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COURTESY PHOTO
Federal agents detonated remaining explosives in an underground storage bunker in Waikele on April 21, 2011. Five men were killed in that bunker from a fireworks explosion earlier that month.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
This is one of the three cars that were parked outside of the bunker where the stored fireworks exploded. The inside of this pick-up truck was completely demolished and burned.
DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARADVERTISER.COM
This is the scene where five men died as a result of the fireworks explosion inside the storage bunker. Notice the firework wrappings that litter the ground around the three vehicles.
Two charges are being dismissed against a man whose company is accused of mishandling fireworks involved in a deadly Hawaii explosion.
A judge today acquitted Charles Donaldson of a count alleging he lied about completely destroying fireworks the government seized. U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway also dismissed a conspiracy charge.
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Donaldson and his company Donald Enterprises remain on trial for other charges including storing hazardous waste without a permit.
They aren’t charged with the 2011 explosion. But prosecutors say the blast that killed five Donaldson employees shows how dangerous the fireworks were.
Prosecutors alleged that Donaldson, who had a contract to destroy fireworks seized by the government, lied about finishing a job so that he could get paid faster. Mollway’s ruling says there’s insufficient evidence supporting the allegation.
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