LIHU‘E — Though the aftermath of New Year’s Eve still lingered this weekend in the form of haze, lost pets and littered streets, the start of 2010 was relatively calm on Kaua‘i. There were no fireworks-related incidents to report, county
LIHU‘E — Though the aftermath of New Year’s Eve still lingered this weekend in the form of haze, lost pets and littered streets, the start of 2010 was relatively calm on Kaua‘i.
There were no fireworks-related incidents to report, county spokesperson Mary Daubert said Sunday.
Kaua ‘i County Councilman Tim Bynum said he remembers some 15 years ago when “neighborhood parties were over the top.”
Increased enforcement on illegal fireworks and requiring permits since 2001 has “calmed it down a bit,” he said. “What we have now is more restrictive.”
The cost of a fireworks permit is $25. It can be used to purchase up to 5,000 non-aerial, individual firecracker units, according to the county’s Web site.
Though he reminisced of the “good old days” and is “always reluctant on government putting restrictions” on people, Bynum also said the “realistic” side of him admits that “appropriate limits” have to be placed on the activity to help ensure public health and safety.
The amount of “particulates,” minuscule particles, released into the air prompted the state Department of Health’s Clean Air Branch to warn individuals who have conditions such as asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis to take precautionary measures, according to a press release last week.
The particulates consist of tiny carcinogenic pieces of unburned coal and gunpowder, said former NASA engineer Dr. Donald Greer. The pollution emitted from fireworks can cause short-term effects, but likely not enough to be of major concern.
“We probably don’t generate enough like O‘ahu,” he said.
Hawai‘i is a “multi-cultural melting pot” and fireworks are an “age-old celebration and a “community expression,” said Malama Kaua‘i’s Keone Kealoha.
But part of any community celebration is keeping neighborhoods clean and the residents proud of the way they look, he said in reference to the many discarded used fireworks that end up in the streets, washing into storm drains.
The history of fireworks stems back some 2,000 years to China, according to www.fireworks.com. It is unclear when the tradition first arrived in Hawai‘i.
It is “very important to respect tradition and cultural practices,” but we also “have to be responsible,” Kealoha said. The leftover litter “speaks to where our shortcomings as a society are.”
Bynum said he does not recall the same problem occurring in his neighborhood some 15 years ago.
“We made quite a mess, but at the end of the evening … when the fireworks were pau, out came the brooms and the trash cans,” he said. “Everyone chipped in to clean up.”
Responsibility not only lies in cleaning up, but rests with pet owners who need to remember to ensure the safety of their animals during holiday celebrations, said Kaua‘i Humane Society Executive Director Dr. Becky Rhoades.
On average the animal welfare organization receives three to six lost pet reports per day — mostly for dogs — but the number typically doubles or triples during New Year’s.
“Fireworks scare them horribly — they get frantic — and people don’t always prepare for protecting their pets,” she said Sunday after receiving 10 lost pet reports on Jan. 1 and 20 on Jan. 2.
The numbers will remain higher than average until the end of the month, as calls continue to filter in for pets of all shapes and sizes.
Also receiving a “rash” of calls every year during New Year’s for missing dogs is KQNG Radio DJ Ron Wiley.
“Animals that don’t normally leave their confines break lose,” he said, adding that the number of reports he gets doubles a couple days before New Year’s and triples by Jan. 1.
“People get busy with the holiday and innocently forget how traumatic it is for pets,” he said when asked why he believes it is an annual issue. But the good news is that “people who this has happened to, it usually doesn’t happen again.”
“We are the lost and found center for pets on Kaua‘i,” Rhoades said, urging people to remember to protect their pet’s identity by getting them microchipped.
“A majority of pets we receive do not have IDs,” she said, adding that the chips cost only $5 at the Humane Society.
• Coco Zickos, business and environmental writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 251) or czickos@kauaipubco.com.
