Kaua‘i celebrates July 4 holiday safely

Independence Day revelers by and large stayed safe this 4th of July, according to Kaua‘i Police and Fire department officials.

County spokeswoman Mary Daubert reported a pair of traffic collisions, one at the junction of Kaumuali‘i Highway and Maluhia Road at around 8:10 p.m. Friday and another near Halfway Bridge at roughly 9:40 p.m.

An officer at the Waimea Police Substation described both of the accidents as “minor” and said neither involved alcohol.

The only celebration-related arrest was made at 5 a.m. yesterday when an ‘Ele‘ele man was cited for driving under the influence of an intoxicant after crashing into Hanapepe Bridge, Daubert said.

Wet conditions islandwide may have helped prevent any fireworks-related blazes.

According to Daubert, the only reported fire-related incident Friday was caused by a Hanama‘ulu child lighting fireworks in a bedroom.

Battalion Chief Theodore Williams said the small fire had already been extinguished when an engine reached the scene.

In 2006, Kaua‘i Fire Department officials said dry summer conditions contributed to eight different brush fires that broke out over the holiday in Hanama‘ulu, Hanapepe, Kapa‘a, Koloa, Lihu‘e, Lumaha‘i and Kekaha.

Brock Bowen, owner-operator of Dragonfire Pyrotechnics, said his crew had no problems conducting Friday’s fireworks at Vidinha Soccer Field in occasional heavy rain and that they had a 100-foot circle of light debris cleaned up by 8:30 a.m. yesterday.

“We got it as clean as when we got there,” said Bowen. “That’s typically how we like to leave it after a show.”

The eighth annual Hanalei Bay beach cleanup, sponsored by The Princeville Resort and attended by many North Shore organizations, was organized yesterday morning at the Hanalei Pavilion Beach Park, according to resort spokeswoman Stephanie Reid.

The event is a tradition held the day after Fourth of July, as celebrations always result in discarded fireworks debris on the shoreline.