Rain dampens ground, not spirits, as Kaua’i welcomes in a new year

There were no fires reported Wednesday night or Thursday morning attributable to fireworks, and it was probably because of the wet weather, a Kaua’i Fire Department spokesman said.

Street speculation was that fireworks sales were down, and that may have helped, but Pacific Fireworks in Kukui Grove Center joined many O’ahu sellers in selling out all or nearly all of their inventories.

There was no firecracker shortage in neighborhoods around the island, as everything from fishing poles to erected wooden poles were used to string fireworks for midnight ignition.

At least one family just moving into a new home in Molokoa III in Lihu’e celebrated with a 12-foot table full of firecrackers hanging like lei over the table’s edges for maximum explosive impact.

There was at least one report to police of what sounded like a rifle shot, but no injuries were reported.

As he does every New Year, Dennis Fujimoto was on the prowl all day yesterday for the first baby Kauaian of 2004. He or she was a no-show at presstime, with one woman in labor at Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital at the West Kauai Medical Clinic in Waimea.

And one driver took advantage of Roger Ridgley’s offer of a free tow home, from Lihu’e to Kapa’a yesterday early morning in a driving rain.

Ridgley’s A Tow in Paradise has for the past 13 years offered free tows home for those who want to avoid drinking and driving after celebrating the holidays and ringing in the new year.

Last year, he towed four or five people home. This year, the weather kept lots of people off the roads, with the highway from Lihu’e to Kapa’a without much traffic early Thursday morning, said Carol Ridgley.

The wet weather, which temporarily closed the Hanalei Bridge yesterday morning and resulted in a flash-flood warning being issued, is expected to linger. Forecasts are for heavy rains today and Saturday