They came in cars with windows bearing painted messages like "Rest Easy Hawaiian" and "No Matter How Hard It Rains, Withstand the Pain."

They came with armfuls of red roses and yellow baby carnations and otherworldly white orchids, all to be laid gently against a rusty chain-link fence decorated with smartly framed photographs and homemade cards and private messages rendered illegible by the gentle but steady rain.

They came bearing the uneven weight of shock and grief and loss, a burden that could only be shared with each other.

In all, about 50 people turned out for last night’s candlelight memo­rial for the five men killed in last week’s accidental explosion at an underground fireworks storage facility in Wai­kele.

The mourners gathered at sundown at the end of Pakela Street, just outside the private road leading to the site of the explosion. Family and friends of 29-year-old Kane­ohe resident Jus­tin Kelii, who was killed in the blast, organized the low-key event as a way to honor Kelii and fellow Donaldson Enterprises employees Robert Kevin Freeman, 24, of Aiea; Bryan Cabalce, 25, of Wahiawa; Neil Sprankle, 24, of Mililani; and Robert Leahey, 50.

"It’s good to see that Jus­tin was loved by a lot of people," said Kelii’s mother, Danielle Bat­tisti, who flew in from her home in Ala­bama after learning of the accident. "I think he would have loved this."

Federal and city authorities continue to investigate the cause of the April 8 explosion, which also injured one other man. The blast occurred in a converted munitions storage area used to hold confiscated aerial fireworks.

Yesterday’s memorial began with relatives, friends and co-workers of the five men joining hands in prayer. Later, a small caravan of cars and SUVs transported immediate family members to the site of the blast. Throughout the evening there were as many laughs as tears as the assembled shared humorous, even bawdy, remembrances of the fallen men.

Kamakani DeDely, who attented bomb disposal training with Kelii, remembered his friend as a hard-working and intelligent man who made friends easily. DeDely said, "If you were his friend, he always had your back, and we loved him for that."

Hanz Kane, 64, of Ewa worked side by side with Kelii on several explosives-removal proj­ects. "He was a gentle giant," Kane said of the burly Kelii. "He had a lot of heart, a lot of aloha."

Kane remembered Freeman as a young man who balanced his youthful exuberance with a serious approach to his work.

"They were all great guys," Kane said.

Kane said Kelii and his co-workers were well trained in munitions disposal — but not fireworks. "Black powder can get volatile when it gets wet then dries off," he said. "That’s why a lot of us don’t work with it."

Kelii’s fiancee, Tiffany Hale­mano, said she and Kelii were planning to get married once his current job was complete. "It (the wedding) was going to happen," she said, wrapping her arms around herself as the rain intensified.