HONOLULU (KHON2) — The Honolulu Fire Department said it saw a 30 percent increase in firework-related fires in 2024 compared to 2023.
From Tuesday, Dec. 31 to Wednesday, Jan. 1, HFD said it responded to 30 fires in total — most were rubbish fires. KHON2 learned that prosecuting those who are responsible for illegal fireworks can prove to be difficult.
KHON2 asked Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney Steve Alm if there is anything that would make his job easier.
“Well, if people are willing to be witnesses and step forward. But that’s true in all cases, that’s true in gun crimes. People are afraid of retaliation,” Alm said.
A former prosecutor made an analogy with drug cases, where users often get arrested.
“And then they turn on the people that sell to them. And then those people in turn, turn on the supplier, right? With fireworks, people aren’t going around carrying fireworks or using fireworks and getting into trouble, at which point they can turn on the person that sold it to them. So we don’t have that chain,” defense attorney and former prosecutor Megan Kau said.
There were at least two cases in 2023 that involved suspects allegedly discharging over 25 pounds of aerial fireworks. Both defendants were also charged with transferring the explosive devices to unpermitted persons.
Those two defendants pled no contest in late 2024. The Judiciary did not respond to a request for how many similar cases led to convictions in 2024.
“We’re looking at statutes. We’re looking at ordinances trying to make things simpler that we could prosecute more easily. And we’ll see how that goes. I think, unfortunately, the tragedies do sometimes bring change, but we’ll have to see,” Alm said.
Kau said finding the people who set off illegal fireworks is tricky when the evidence is literally blown to pieces, but going after the source of how they get to Hawaii is a different story.
“I don’t know why, but the smuggling of fireworks has not been historically, greatly investigated,” Kau said. “Something has to, something’s got to be done in order to stop this.”
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Current Hawaii law classifies discharging aerials weighing 25 pounds or more and transferring an aerial device to someone without a permit — as Class C felonies that can carry up to five years in prison.