������Ƶ

A new task force seized hundreds of thousands of pounds of illegal fireworks last year, but the sky still lit up on New Year’s Eve and the fire department reported a drastic increase in fireworks-related fires.

Legislators and law enforcement officials say more needs to be done to crack down on the explosives, which are usually imported from the mainland.

One priority this legislative session will be to examine the work of the Illegal Fireworks Task Force, which under the Department of Law Enforcement, and decide whether it should be funded into next fiscal year, said Rep. Gregg Takayama, vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee. 

Lawmakers will also consider other bills carried over from last year, including one that would increase random inspections of shipping containers and give state law enforcement officials broader authority to search domestic cargo ships coming into port. 

While illegal fireworks have long been an issue in the state, legislators say the potential risk they pose for sparking wildfires raises the stakes this year.

“With the wildfires in Lahaina, obviously, there’s even more public concern, as well there should be,” Takayama said.

‘A Wall Of Fireworks’

Anyone who stayed up late enough on Oahu this New Year’s Eve knows that it was anything but quiet.

“It was a wall of fireworks for 20 minutes,” said Jeffrey Merz, a member of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board who watched the fireworks at midnight from a house near the Kamehameha Schools Kapalama High School campus in Honolulu overlooking the south shore. “I think it was way more than in years past.” 

The Honolulu Fire Department responded to 23 fireworks-related fires from 8 a.m. on Dec. 31 and 8 a.m. on Jan. 1. The department responded to eight fireworks-related blazes during the same time period of 2022 to 2023, according to Capt. Jaimie Song. 

Honolulu Emergency Medical Services also responded to seven fireworks-related injuries on New Years Eve. One involved a 64-year-old man who suffered an extensive eye injury from a fireworks blast and had to be treated with “advanced life support,” according to a statement from EMS spokeswoman Shayne Enright. Paramedics responded to 12 fireworks-related calls in the same period last year, she said.

While the Illegal Fireworks Task Force confiscated over three separate operations in December, according to Department of Law Enforcement press releases, some residents questioned what difference the seizures made given the amount of firework activity on New Year’s Eve.

“There was no doubt in my mind there was a lot more,” Larry Veray, chair of the Pearl City Neighborhood Board, said of the number of fireworks set off in his neighborhood this year compared with last year.

Intercepting Illegal Fireworks

Department of Law Enforcement Director Jordan Lowe said the task force made a dent in the supply of fireworks available on the black market, but it will take longer for the impact to be felt at the community level because many people had fireworks stockpiled from earlier in the year.

“One thing that people were mentioning to me was that, normally, the weeks before New Year’s and even leading up to Thanksgiving they would start hearing fireworks go off in various neighborhoods,” Lowe said. “They noticed there were less fireworks going off during that period of time. Because fireworks were more scarce, people held on to them until New Year’s and then set off what they had on New Year’s Eve.”

The task force is made up of state narcotics agents, deputy sheriffs, county police officers and the state Attorney General’s Office, as well as federal agents from Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It focuses on intercepting fireworks that are often hidden in shipping containers disguised to be carrying other items from the mainland, Lowe said.

Most illegal fireworks sold here originate in China and are shipped to the mainland where they’re repackaged and put on boats to Hawaii, he said.

All international shipments to Hawaii are inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents, but authorities must have probable cause and obtain a search warrant to scrutinize domestic freight.

In addition to the hundreds of thousands of explosives confiscated last year, the task force executed a search warrant on Tuesday and seized another 30,000 pounds of fireworks from a shipping container, he said. Officers are in the process of executing a search warrant on a second container. 

Agents in conjunction with the Honolulu Police Department also arrested two people on fireworks-related charges in December. Lowe said he expects more arrests will be made this year as investigations continue. 

The task force is funded through June of this year with a budget of $1.25 million, he said. But even though the effects of its work may not have been obvious on New Year’s Eve, Lowe said he hopes legislators will see that it has made a difference and opt to extend funding through next fiscal year. 

“We’re talking 75 tons of fireworks — that’s 75 tons of fireworks that never made it to our neighborhoods, to the neighbor islands,” Lowe said of the fireworks seized so far by the task force. “I think we’ve made a positive difference. Obviously, we have more to do.”

Legislative Measures

Other measures expected to be taken up this legislative session include a bill carried over after failing last year that would collect import fees from shipping containers and use them to establish a program. The bill would also expand the authority of the Department of Law Enforcement to conduct inspections and increase the maximum fine levied against those involved in shipping illegal fireworks. 

Another bill would for homeowners, renters and property managers who knowingly allow others to use fireworks on their properties to between $500 and $5,000.

Takayama said the No. 1 will be to examine the work of the Illegal Fireworks Task Force and decide on whether it should be funded again.

Veray said he believes the focus of fireworks enforcement should remain on intercepting them before they make it into the state where, if not stored properly, can pose serious dangers to communities.

“All it takes is mishandling explosives and, before you know it,” he said, “you’ve lost a city block and lots of lives.”