Question: When I went to purchase fireworks permits last month, I was asked how many permits I wanted. Is there a limit? They are $25 apiece. Each permit is good for “5,000 individual units.” So for five boxes of #5,000, I would have to purchase five permits?
That would cost me $125 just in permits. That’s a conspiracy that the city has going! When you purchase a box of #5,000 firecrackers, there aren’t 5,000 individual firecrackers in the box; it’s a lot less than that. It’s a system that is used to identify the different sizes of firecrackers. What is the actual amount that can be purchased?
Answer: Unfortunately, we weren’t able to answer your question before the New Year’s Eve celebration, but we hope this information helps you the next go-round and helps other consumers understand the packaging system as well.
Each permit allows you to purchase 5,000 firecrackers, and there is no limit on the number of permits you are allowed to buy.
But how to know how many firecrackers are in each package may not be so simple.
You are correct that the figures that seem to indicate the number of firecrackers — e.g., #5,000 or #10,000 — have nothing to do with the quantity of firecrackers. Instead, they refer to the quantity of powder in a string, said Capt. Terry Seelig, spokesman for the Honolulu Fire Department.
The number shown is sometimes referred to as the “Tau” number, he said, explaining that Tau is an old Chinese measuring system dealing with the total grams of powder.
“Because firecracker strings can be manufactured with thicker or thinner firecrackers and larger or smaller heads, a string will not have the same number of firecrackers from brand to brand and even between strings from the same brand manufactured at different times,” Seelig said.
However, every package has a notation of approximately how many firecrackers are inside. That’s the number to look for.
But even that number is approximate because of how firecrackers are manufactured in China, Seelig said.
“Firecrackers are assembled in strings, often with a package at the top of the string known as a head that contains additional firecrackers,” he said. “The counts are not precise as the process of assembly does not result in identical numbers of firecrackers within a string or in the head, but instead is reflective of the quantity of firecracker powder used in assembling the string.”
Seelig said there will be many combinations of packages that can be purchased with each permit. “It is up to the consumer to do the math, with the help of the retailer, and to secure the appropriate number of permits,” he said.
He also pointed out that firecracker permits are available year-round, with a deadline of getting them no less than 10 days before the date of use.
Regarding the permit system being a city “conspiracy,” Seelig said the city’s fireworks laws conform to state statutes, which were amended in 1994, establishing the permit price and number of firecrackers.
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You first need to have an account. People 18 years and older can sign up for an account at www.socialsecurity.gov/myaccount.
Mahalo
To the person who found my cellphone in the Iwilei Home Depot parking lot in December and placed it in the bed of my truck!
— D. Arakaki
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