Just under two weeks before what emergency personnel said is the “busiest night of the year,” Mayor Rick Blangiardi urged the community to take “personal responsibility” this New Year’s Eve by celebrating only with legal, permitted firecrackers.

“This is a conversation that we’ve been talking about for many months,” he said Tuesday at a news conference. “This is a conversation that really got our attention with the Maui wildfires. This is a conversation based on a lot of knowledge over a lot of years, on how people behave during the holidays when it comes to illegal fireworks. We are now living in a time when things that we couldn’t even imagine could happen are happening.”

The possibility of wildfires originating from fireworks is a major concern this year, especially following the August wildfires on Maui and the wildfire that burned above Mililani Mauka in late October.

“This is very real. It’s very serious. This is our island home,” Blangiardi said. “It only takes a little spark to set off something really major, and what happened on Maui could happen here. Don’t make any mistake about that.”

While parts of the island are undergoing dry conditions that are at a higher risk of wildfire, Blangiardi emphasized that the Mili­lani Mauka fire occurred in an area that was “wet and green.” Honolulu Fire Department Chief Sheldon Hao said personnel fought the fire for 10 days before it was given over to the Department of the Interior. The fire was not fully extinguished until Dec. 15, Hao said.

“It took a concerted effort from federal, state and city resources to contain that fire in one area,” Hao said.

In 2022, HFD responded to 236 incidents between 8 a.m. Dec. 31 and 8 a.m. on Jan. 2, 2023 — 18 related to fireworks, eight involving something that was burning and 10 medical emergencies. HFD records indicate that there was a “significant increase” in fireworks-related fire calls in 2022 than in 2021, Hao said in a news release.

Hao also said that HFD increases its resources, especially on the West side, on New Year’s Eve — including increasing staffing and engine numbers.

The Honolulu Emergency Services Department responded to about a dozen major fireworks-related injuries in 2022, including people who were hit in the face with aerial fireworks, lost their fingers or hands, or suffered major burns. In 2022 a 28-year-old Wahiawa man was transported in critical condition to an emergency room after fireworks exploded in his face.

“All these are preventable injuries. We call them accidents, but there were deliberate activities that led to these, so think about the children, think about friends and family, neighbors, that can be permanently impacted or killed by a bad decision to use something that’s illegal,” EMS Director Dr. Jim Ireland said.

EMS also increases its resources on New Year’s Eve, in personnel and in available ambulances.

An islandwide partial fireworks ban has been in place on Oahu since 2011, prohibiting the possession and use of fountains, sparklers, aerial fireworks and other consumer fireworks. Additionally, firecracker permits must be purchased to buy and use firecrackers.

The Honolulu Fire Department is still selling permits, which must be purchased by Thursday, to use firecrackers this New Year’s Eve. Each nonrefundable permit, which can be obtained online, costs $25 plus a 59-cent service fee. In 2022, 13,679 permits were sold.

Firecracker sales within Honolulu County for permit holders begin Tuesday and will continue until midnight Dec. 31. Firecrackers can be used on Oahu between 9 p.m. Dec. 31 until 1 a.m. Jan. 1.

“If you have a permit and you fire off fireworks, have at it and do what you need to do, but if it’s illegal fireworks, that is not appropriate for this time,” Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan said.

Those who see illegal fireworks being used in their communities should call 911 to report the behavior to HPD. Logan said that when officers arrive, the caller should help to identify the person who fired off the illegal fireworks and to offer photo or video evidence.

Multiple efforts toward more strictly regulating illegal fireworks were proposed by state lawmakers throughout 2022’s legislative session, including establishing police fireworks enforcement units and shipping container inspection programs, and increasing fines on those who allow the use of aerial fireworks on their property, although many failed to cross over to opposite chambers for further discussion.

In June, Gov. Josh Green signed into law a bill that created an Illegal Fireworks Task Force through the Department of Law Enforcement. The task force, which was established in July, has seized more than 3,000 pounds of illegal fireworks since its inception. It also conducted a fireworks amnesty day Sunday, which garnered almost 515 additional pounds of illegal and unwanted fireworks from the public.

The issue of regulating illegal fireworks is something Blangiardi said people across the county are concerned about. Last spring — “before Maui ever happened” — Blangiardi and his Cabinet conducted 11 town halls over 10 weeks.

“I was surprised at some of the common denominators that came up in each one of those districts, and one of them was consistently the concern about the use of illegal fireworks and the threat that that would pose,” Blangiardi said. “My request is to the public to take on the personal responsibility you need to do so.”

Blangiardi said public safety is his No. 1 priority and that over the years he’s seen how New Year’s Eve celebrations — including the use of illegal fireworks — have grown “bigger and bigger and bigger.”

“That’s my concern because it is incredible what happens out there, and all of that last year was before I ever thought we’d lose a place like Lahaina,” Blangiardi said. “The fact of the matter is we’re asking for personal responsibility as strongly as we can possibly ask. Take care of each other.”