Windy weather could send aerial fireworks awry on Oahu

Illegal aerial fireworks combined with blustery weather forecast for New Year’s Eve could spell disaster.

“Once you launch that aerial, that’s a huge ember being propelled by burning gunpowder,” said Honolulu Fire Capt. Jeff Roache. “It’s almost guaranteed it’s a house fire if it lands on a house, or a wildland fire if it lands in brush.”

Roache said that the chances are greater with high winds that it will result in fire.

“Aerials are balls of fire that are actively burning,” he said. “It has fuel and has been ignited. If it goes awry and it’s still burning or malfunctions, it might blow up too low and send more bits of burning debris.”

The National Weather Serv­ice said Tuesday that “trade winds will become rather breezy Thursday and on through the weekend as high pressure builds in to our north,” adding that only passing showers, mostly for the windward and mauka areas, can be expected from time to time.

In addition to igniting fires, fireworks also can result in injury to body parts or worse, Roache said.

He recalls that a Kapolei couple was fatally injured after a New Year’s Eve fireworks explosion at Campbell Industrial Park.

Liona Spencer died Jan. 1, 2017, of penetrating injuries from shrapnel to the torso. Her longtime partner, Keoki Medeiros, 36, was critically injured and later died. They both suffered flash-related burn injuries.

They left behind a daughter, 16, and a son, 18.

Errant New Year’s Eve aerial fireworks were suspected in the Dec. 31, 2000, Palolo Valley house fire that left Lillian Herring, 81, and her two dogs dead inside the house.

This year concussive explosions have been occurring at all hours in neighborhoods across the island, causing some animals and humans to shudder in fear, not knowing when the next one will go off.

Often the loud, sudden noise scares pets into bolting or running away from home, putting them in danger, the Hawaiian Humane Society says. It recommends keeping pets indoors and not leaving them unaccompanied outside since they can escape fenced-in enclosures if panicked.

A young man named Landon posted in a Facebook group that fireworks went off in his neighborhood of Pacific Palisades.

“It scared both my dogs to death, and when I say to death, I mean it,” he wrote. His big dog, Kona, got scared after someone “popped a huge firework,” leading to his accidentally hanging himself Dec. 23.

Landon said Kona was an important family member, accompanying him and his friends to school when Landon was in kindergarten, “to make sure we got to school safe,” then walked all the way back home.

“If this is your neighbor that is popping fireworks, then please say something to them,” he implores.

Residents are urged to call 911 to report violations, and an officer will be sent to their location, the Honolulu Police Department said in an email response to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s questions.

Police from Dec. 1 to Tuesday issued 18 citations and made five arrests for fireworks-related offenses.

No longer do police need to witness the setting off of illegal fireworks to make an arrest or issue a citation.

The law now says statements from individuals who witnessed the offense, not necessarily law enforcement officers, can provide probable cause for arrest.

Also, photographs, video recordings or other recordings showing the commission of the offense could provide probable cause, which include recordings from unmanned aerial vehicles, now exempt from requiring authentication by one or more witnesses.

Police on Monday arrested Shane Cabiles, 29, in Kalihi-Palama on a fireworks offense. He was charged and released on $100 bail.

Edward Cruz, 48, also arrested Monday at Akepo Lane and North King Street, was charged under the same statute and released on $100 bail.

The Honolulu Fire Department has issued approximately 14,300 fireworks permits this year, slightly down from last year’s 17,700 permits.

Permit holders are allowed to pop legal firecrackers from 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve until 1 a.m. New Year’s Day.