Honolulu officials urge safe, vigilant Fourth of July celebrations

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MARK LADAO / MLADAO@STARADVERTISER.COM

Precious Ma’ave and her family have attended the Fourth of July fireworks celebration for more than 15 years. While most family members will be off-island to attend a funeral this year, a few will still be at Ala Moana Beach Park for the holiday, she said.

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MARK LADAO / MLADAO@STARADVERTISER.COM

James and Kristi Ramirez were one of the first to set up their tents on the beach at Ala Moana Beach Park for the July 4 celebration. They planned to stay Wednesday night to reserve their spot to see the fireworks.

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City officials are asking Oahu residents to celebrate Independence Day in a fun, safe manner but to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary.

“It’s going to be a fun time to be outside, the weather’s going to be great, but we want people to be safe,” Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said Wednesday. “If something doesn’t look right, doesn’t feel right, please call 911 and report it to HPD.”

Drunken driving on the road and on the ocean is another concern, as are the alcohol-fueled problems from Fourth of July flotillas of inflatable rafts, stand-up paddleboards, boats and other vessels in the waters off heavily populated beaches along Ala Moana and Waikiki that previously resulted in hundreds of water rescues and mounds of litter washing ashore.

“We have relatively large surf on the way along with king tides so we’re asking people if you’re going to go in the water, go in to swim, to surf, to snorkel but not to go (to drink) or take some other prohibitive substance and get in trouble and have to be rescued like we saw in the past,” Caldwell said.

Officials with the Honolulu Police Department and Emergency Services Department said they will have extra personnel working today. Ocean Safety Capt. Kurt Lager said his agency is planning to put extra personal watercraft in the water, and lifeguards will be on duty at Ala Moana and Waikiki until 6:30 p.m., an hour later than normal.

Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Scot Seguirant urged residents with permits to pop firecrackers on flat, smooth surfaces away from dry vegetation, flammable or combustible materials. “Then you want to make sure you have a water source readily available in case something does go wrong,” Seguirant said.

Consumer fireworks are allowed to be set off only between 1 and 9 p.m. today.

“While we had some major rains last week, we’ve had a lot of dry weather and we’ve already seen a lot of brush fires that have occurred,” Caldwell said. “We do not want to see illegal fireworks, illegal aerials set off a fire somewhere that’s going to end up hurting people or property. The best way to do it is just watch the fireworks displays that are going to occur at Ala Moana Beach Park and Kailua Beach and those kinds of places.”

Police said they will have additional officers on patrol for fireworks violators.

HPD also will have impaired driving checkpoints throughout the weekend.