Hawaii Fireworks Explosion Kills Four
UPDATED 4/8/11 3:44 p.m.
Four people are dead and a fifth person critically injured after fireworks stored in a bunker exploded in Waikele.
“They had probably five or six workers there. Unfortunately, I understand four were killed,” said Peter Savio, a real estate developer who leases the land. “They’ve recovered two bodies, two were still in the cave. One other was burnt severely and, from what I understand, may not survive. Apparently just a tragic accident.”
The explosion occurred about 9 a.m. Friday inside a World War II-era bunker, where fireworks confiscated by the federal government had been stored.
“Basically, these are the old munitions caves that go into the side of the mountain. Imagine like a railroad tunnel, 15-20 feet wide, 200 feet deep,” Savio said. “We’re lucky they stored these things here and had the accidents here because if it had been in a regular warehouse or a building, it could have been much much more severe.”
“My guess is that the explosion, all of the pressure would have been blown out the front of the cave. … This was a company that stored the fireworks that the federal government had confiscated, like illegal fireworks or people that were shopping without the proper permits.”
The men all worked for , an environmental and explosive services company that specializes in unexploded ordnance disposal.
Honolulu Emergency Services Director Jim Ireland told Civil Beat: “One person was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Another person was treated at the scene.”
“From the emergency medical services side, all the injured have been treated, transported at the hospital. Our role at the scene is essentially completed. Firefighters are still active at the scene,” he said.
