By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Nicholas Kida-Rodrigues, 2, of Waianae appears to be
engulfed in a shower of sparks as he celebrates at his
grandpa's house in Pauoa on New Year's Eve, 1995.

It's a longstanding tradition many say is inviolable; others contend it's intolerable.

Honolulu Fire Chief Anthony Lopez Jr. hopes 1997 is the year state legislators impose an outright ban on fireworks, mainly because he feels the 2-year-old law liberalizing legal fireworks sales and prohibiting aerials hasn't worked.

"The intent of the law was to regulate the illegal fireworks at the pier," he said. "That hits a guy in the pocket. But it's still here. ... We haven't had major fires and the weather has cooperated with us. Nothing major has happened. (But) that's what it takes for the Legislature to move."

What Oahu did have over the New Year's holiday was a laundry list of problems: illegal aerials reported around the island, scores of revelers ignoring the permitted time bracket and at least two major fireworks-related accidents.

On New Year's Eve, a 35-year-old man suffered critical injuries from electrical shock after trying to hang fireworks on a rope he placed over a power line on Pupuole Street in Waipahu.

In another case, a 15-year-old boy suffered an eye injury when he was struck by a bottle rocket.

Low-hanging smoke from fireworks, too, was a concern for some.

While there were probably more fireworks being fired off by more people this New Year's than last, it could have been far worse, said air quality consultant Jim Morrow.

"It could have been worse had we had the cold, still nights of a couple of nights ago," Morrow said.

"The problem every year is the most sensitive people in the population are the ones that have a problem - asthmatics. But I haven't seen anything as bad as we saw in the early 1970s."

Fireworks were virtually unrestricted on Oahu then, until the next decade when permits were required and a limit on firecrackers was set.

Then, two years ago, the Legislature sought to bring consistency to fireworks regulations throughout the state by outlawing aerials on the Big Island (the only island where they were legal) and legalizing firecrackers on Maui and Molokai (where they were illegal).

Consumers responded by buying more of them.

"It's only a matter of time before we get a combination of horrendous usage and bad weather conditions," said Morrow. "And people will go to the hospital. ... I think it was a mistake to relax the law two years ago."

Morrow said the problem is not so pronounced on Chinese New Year's or other cultural holidays as on New Year's, when the larger population takes advantage of the influx of fireworks during the holiday.

Though Lopez wants an outright ban on fireworks, he's realistic enough to know it wouldn't be a panacea.

"Maui had a complete ban but they still had fireworks," he noted.

Rep. Roy Takumi (D, Pearl City-Waipahu) plans to introduce a bill this legislative session that would allow each county to control fireworks as long as its laws put more teeth into existing rules.

"I'm a believer in home rule," he said. "Each county should be able to control its own destiny."

But, Takumi concedes, controlling fireworks is a "tough call." "How do you regulate a cultural custom?"