Despite rain (and the law), illegal fireworks fill the sky above Oahu - Hawaii News Now

KUNIA, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hours before midnight, illegal aerial fireworks began filling the sky over Oahu.

Only firecrackers with a permit are legal, and can only be set off between 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve and 1 a.m. New Year’s Day.

However, a remote camera caught the pyrotechnics in the skies over Waipahu not long after sunset, even though skies were filled with clouds and rain fell over parts of the island.

“This is terrorists happening right now. They’re terrorizing our community,” said Maureen Andrade, longtime resident of Village Park near Kunia.

Andrade said the aerials have actually been going off every night, all year long. She’s called the police about it, but said little seems to happen.

“We know where the problem areas are in this area because it’s almost the same people,” she said. “We just don’t know what to do about it.”

“You and I know that just in the last five or six years, the illegal fireworks have increased tenfold, 20-fold, maybe even a hundredfold,” said former state senator Will Espero.

As he spoke, loud booms filled the air over his Ewa neighborhood.

“One thing I was pushing when I was in the legislature was random inspections of our shipping containers, which is not done,” he said. “And obviously that’s where most of our illegal fireworks are coming in.”

A year ago, the city emergency services department reported six fireworks-related injuries.

Also a year ago, Honolulu police made just one arrest and issued 45 citations for illegal fireworks.

HPD said it was stepping up enforcement this year. But police can’t be everywhere.

“There’s a confidence out there that it’s okay to do what we’re doing because no one is going to get caught and no one is really going to be punished,” said Espero.

“My feeling right now -- and my kids laugh at me -- get rid of everything,” said Andrade. “So we don’t have any fireworks events.”

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source: https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2022/01/01/despite-rain-law-illegal-fireworks-fill-sky-above-oahu/

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