Fireworks-related calls soar over previous holiday

A 76-year-old woman was displaced by an apparent fireworks-related blaze and hundreds called police to report illegal fireworks during a busy New Year’s celebration for emergency responders.

In the 24-hour period ending at 5 a.m. Friday, police received 862 fireworks-related calls, compared to 972 fireworks-related calls for all of 2014. From Dec. 1 to Tuesday, police received about 1,500 fireworks-related calls.

Michelle Yu, Honolulu Police Department spokeswoman, said police are compiling the numbers of citations or arrests, and statistics are expected to be available next week.

One man was arrested for a fireworks violation on Thursday, according to police logs. Cenon Polintan, 41, of Waipahu, was arrested at 5:30 p.m. on suspicion of violating a fireworks law that requires a permit or license to import, store or sell fireworks, which is a petty misdemeanor. He was released about two hours later after posting $500 bail.

Firefighters responded to 19 nuisance fires and nine fireworks-related incidents on Thursday and Friday, said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Kendall Ching.

Firefighters could not confirm what sparked the nuisance fires, but they suspect nine incidents were fireworks-related, including a structure fire. Other apparent fireworks-related incidents included a dumpster fire, a wildland fire, three rubbish fires and three medical responses.

The structure fire began about 7:30 p.m. at a residence at 91-1681 Orrick St. in Ewa Beach and displaced a 76-year-old woman, authorities said. Police patrolling the area spotted the flames and doused them with a garden hose at about 7:30 p.m. But embers that had fallen into the crawl space fueled more flames, which firefighters extinguished shortly after 9 p.m., Ching said.

The woman was not injured, but the two-alarm fire left an 8-inch hole in the wood shake roof and caused $150,000 in damage, Ching said.

Police opened a first-degree criminal property damage case in the incident.

Last year there were no fireworks-related structure fires during New Year’s celebrations, Ching said.

Shayne Enright, Honolulu Emergency Services Department spokeswoman, said emergency medical crews responded to 192 calls in a 12-hour period ending at 7 a.m. Friday. Ten callers reported difficulty breathing, possibly from fireworks smoke, and 20 had injures related to assaults, she said.

Emergency Medical Service crews treated and transported one person to a hospital for a fireworks-related incident — a man with a hand injury, who was in stable condition. During last year’s holiday, EMS crews responded to 10 fireworks-related injuries, including one man in Waialua who sustained critical injuries to his face.