KAILUA-KONA — Firefighters don’t want to add ambulance lights to the fireworks shows during the new year. ADVERTISING KAILUA-KONA — Firefighters don’t want to add ambulance lights to the fireworks shows during the new year. On Saturday, fireworks and the
KAILUA-KONA — Firefighters don’t want to add ambulance lights to the fireworks shows during the new year.
On Saturday, fireworks and the permits to possess them go on sale, and setting them off is allowed from 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve to 1 a.m. on New Year’s Day.
Officials are urging people to celebrate responsibly.
“Having someone injured or killed as a result of using fireworks carelessly and recklessly will take all the fun out of the celebration very quickly,” is how Mike Matsui, fireworks auditor for the fire department, put it.
The number of fires on the island during the season had remained flat for two years, before jumping last year. Injuries also climbed. From 12:01 a.m. Dec. 31 to midnight Jan. 2. There were five fires in 2012 and 2013, and 15 in 2014.
Injuries showed a similar jump. In 2012 there were seven, in 2013 there were 10 and in 2014 there were 15.
Matsui said many of the injuries and fires were the result of aerial devices, which are any firework that reaches above 12 feet. This includes things like sky lanterns, Hawaii Lanterns, bottle rockets, Roman candles, mortars and shells. Those have been illegal in Hawaii since 1994, along with “any firework that moves about on the ground more than a circle with a 12’ radius,” he wrote.
“The Hawaii Fire Department humbly asks everyone to please kokua in helping us to prevent fires, and also to avoid the unnecessary injuries caused by fireworks each year,” the department said in a press release.
Users should be careful when setting off fireworks, particularly with keiki, the department wrote, and should be under close adult supervision whenever they are using fireworks.
Fireworks and their flares of light can ignite blazes. To prevent that, the department said to use them in an area well away from dry grass or flammable materials. It can be easy to be casual with an expended firework. But that can still be an ignition source, and the department advises making sure it is completely extinguished.
In the chance a fire does start, the department said there should be a fire extinguisher or a hose nearby.
But permits are needed. Each one costs $25 and entitles the holder to purchase 5,000 individual fireworks. People can buy more than one permit. Permits are only for people who are at least 18 years old and cannot be transferred or refunded.
There are two locations on the island where the permits alone are offered: Parker Ranch Shopping Center Food Court, Kamuela, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until New Year’s Eve. and the West Hawaii Civic Center, on the second floor of Building E from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Thursday.
Some vendors will also sell permits. The ones on the leeward side include TNT Tent, Kona Crossroads Parking Lot; 75-1027 Henry Street, Kailua-Kona; TNT Tent Keauhou, 78-6831 Alii Drive, Kailua-Kona; KTA Kona; Kona Coast Shopping Center, 74-5594 Palani Road, Kailua-Kona; Pacific Fireworks Kona, 75-5629 Kuakini Highway, Kailua-Kona; BJ Alan Tent Kona, 74-5586 Palani Road, Kailua-Kona; BJ Alan Tent Kona, 74-5454 Makala Blvd., Kailua-Kona.
Novelties and paperless fireworks don’t need a permit.
Fire Chief Darren Rosario said in a press release that he would like to remind the public that it is illegal to remove the pyrotechnic contents from a firework, throw fireworks from, at, or into a vehicle and set off fireworks outside the limited times or near certain areas. Those include within 1,000 feet of any hospital, convalescent home, care home for the elderly, zoo, animal hospital or shelter, or church when services are held. It’s also illegal to use on school property without authorization from that school’s official. Public ways are also off-limits.
