Oahu is a safer place on New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July since a ban on novelty fireworks such as sparklers and fountains took effect three years ago.
Members of Honolulu’s City Council know that. They’ve been told directly by the Honolulu Police Department and Honolulu Fire Department, emergency-response agencies that want to keep the ban in place, citing its measurable effectiveness.
If Council members approve a misguided attempt to reverse restrictions due to nostalgia and flawed logic — bringing back sparklers is not likely to reduce the use of illegal aerial fireworks, as some Council members claim — they will do so in contradiction of the relevant facts, and will risk the physical and economic health of Oahu residents and taxpayers in the process.
It is not too late to avert this potentially serious legislative mistake.
The full Council should defeat Bill 5 (2014) when it comes up for a vote on July 8, countering the action of the Council’s Executive Matters and Legal Affairs Committee, which voted 7-1 on Tuesday to advance the measure.
Councilmembers Ikaika Anderson and Ann Kobayashi introduced Bill 5 last year because they considered the fireworks rules adopted in 2012 too restrictive.
Currently, adults can purchase an unlimited number of $25 permits allowing them to purchase 5,000 common firecrackers per permit. Bill 5 would add 160 sparklers and/ or fountains to each permitted purchase.
The duo heard from constituents who especially miss old-style Hawaii New Year’s celebrations, which included lots of children playing with fireworks, as well as houses adorned with thousands of firecrackers (a cultural tradition for some that continues legally today). But sentimental memories should not be sugar-coated (plenty of people got hurt in those good ol’ days), nor outweigh the compelling health and safety data that has emerged since the novelty fireworks were outlawed.
Positive outcomes predicted before the hard-fought ban was approved have now proved true, and must be preserved.
For the three-year period before the ban on sparklers and fountains took effect, there were an average 67 fireworks-related injuries reported at Oahu emergency rooms each New Year’s Eve, according to the Honolulu Fire Department. That annual average has dropped to 17 since the ban took effect.
“Nobody can dispute … that over the last three years, there’s been a tremendous reduction in the amount of injuries, illness and smoke and noise pollution, as well as decreased costs to the city. We’re not sure why we would want to bring any of that back,” said Honolulu Fire Department Assistant Chief Socrates Bratakos.
Council members in favor of this bill have not plausibly answered that obvious question. Proponents who emphasize that firecrackers also are smoky and loud and can be dangerous and that use of illegal aerial fireworks persists despite the ban make flawed arguments.
The more logical response in the wake of the improved health and safety statistics would be to outlaw firecrackers too, a move that was initially resisted because of the cultural significance of the annual New Year’s tradition for some Hawaii residents, especially those of Asian heritage. The Council may not wish to enact an all-out ban, continuing to recognize that rite, but it certainly should not backpedal on the strides achieved by outlawing the novelty items.
The illegal aerials are a different issue altogether. Sparklers and fountains appeal to children. It is hard to imagine that adults who recklessly shoot off illegal aerial fireworks in residential neighborhoods would give them up in favor of a few hand-held novelties. The existing prohibition against aerials should be more stringently enforced, not confused with the separate ban on sparklers and fountains.
Since the ban took effect, Oahu residents have continued to celebrate New Year’s Eve and Fourth of July with gusto. The limited restrictions have not extinguished all the fun. They have made the holidays safer, though, a predicted outcome the City Council should recognize, welcome and maintain.
