The early returns on New Year’s Eve fireworks on Kaua’i are good. According to police, the celebration was quieter than normal and was free of any serious incidents of illegal fireworks or injuries. At least part of the rest of
The early returns on New Year’s Eve fireworks on Kaua’i are good. According to
police, the celebration was quieter than normal and was free of any serious
incidents of illegal fireworks or injuries.
At least part of the rest of
the state wasn’t as fortunate. In Honolulu, a woman died when her house caught
fire after being struck by aerial fireworks. The two dogs she had stayed at
home to protect against fireworks also died in the fire.
Both the relative
quiet on Kaua’i and the tragedy in Honolulu apparently were linked to the new
state law that required consumers to purchase a permit for $25 before they
could buy firecrackers. The regulation’s intent – to hold down some of the
firecracker-related problems of past years, including excessive noise and
litter – succeeded here. But it backfired in Honolulu, where authorities said
skyrockets were used more heavily than in past New Year’s revelry. And a woman
is dead as a result.
Fireworks are a popular tradition, the kind that
aren’t easy to eliminate. But it should be easier to get rid of the ones that
carry potential for property damage and loss of life or limb. The Legislature
and local governments should at least study the possibility of banning
fireworks except in licensed public displays handled by professional
pyrotechnicians. Another approach might be to ban fireworks that are
potentially the most dangerous while allowing private use of the ones that are
tamer, so to speak. That could be a difficult standard, though, since all
fireworks carry some risk.
