Fireworks ban has improved Honolulu — don’t forget that

So City Councilman Ikaika Anderson wants to amend the current fireworks law. How quickly we forget those eardrum-breaking "KABOOMS" that started two to three weeks before New Year’s Eve. Also remember the noise and smoke that drove a good number of our community members to shut themselves in their homes and sedate their pets.

Many of those kabooms were caused by homemade "sparklerbombs;" fireworks that include sparklers are dangerous. The sparklerbombs are easy to make and become explosive bombs.

As a former member of the City Council that was responsible for enacting the current fireworks law, I know that Anderson and all other Council members at that time were briefed on the dangers of all fireworks by members of the Honolulu Police Department’s bomb squad.

Let us not forget the five bomb technicians killed in Waikele while defusing illegal fireworks confiscated by federal law enforcement officers shortly after the enactment of the current fireworks law. These were highly trained and skilled people who were killed in an explosion of fireworks stored in bunkers built to house ammunition for the U.S. Navy.

Let us not forget the reductions in reported injuries and calls for fire, emergency medical and police services since the current law was enacted. There had been deaths attributed to the fireworks celebration in previous years, as well as the maiming and injuring of adults and youngsters as the New Year was being welcomed.

Let us not forget the sanity that has returned to our communities since the current fireworks law was enacted. I applaud the great number of people who came forth to testify on how they were personally affected by the smoke and noise caused by the fireworks, especially those who suffered from respiratory illnesses. Many pet owners came forth to express their frustration in having to secure and often sedate their pets on New Year’s Eve.

Let us not forget the unenforceable laws that existed previously, which made Honolulu police officers scapegoats of the inept enforcement of fireworks violations, especially on New Year’s Eve. The previous law was difficult to enforce by our police officers since the violation of law needed to be witnessed by the officers.

Let us remember the brush fire started by an illegal aerial firework on July 4, 2010, in Kalama Valley that caused the fire to race up the valley toward homes on Kamehame Ridge. Only through the skill of our firefighters and help of residents were they able to save a number of homes from going up in flames.

The personal testimony that came from the residents as they envisioned their homes being engulfed by the fire was gut-wrenching for our City Council members responsible for the enactment of the current law.

It took more than 20 years to get the current law enacted. Let me state that I was born and raised in Hawaii. I played with fireworks, as did my children and grandchildren. During my youth, the population of Oahu was probably near 350,000. Today when you consider our military and tourists, there are nearly a million people on Oahu on any given day. This density in our population has added to the dangers of allowing fireworks to continue as they did previously.

I hope the current Council members do their homework on the dangers of all fireworks before they vote to amend the current law. Once the law is amended, it will be difficult to revert back. I would also guess from my previous experience on the Council that lobbyists for those in the fireworks industry are actively calling on our Council members and urging them to change the law for that industry’s financial interests.