GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM From left, Kelsey Tachihata, Nikki Yamauchi and Tiffany Tamate, all from Manoa, quietly celebrated the coming New Year last night at a party in Manoa.

Fireworks permit
sales declined, but
firefighters still busy

Alarm calls were
well above average

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Star-Bulletin Staff

Isle residents lined up at the last minute yesterday to obtain fireworks permits at satellite city halls and fire stations, but city and fire officials say the number of permits still dropped statewide compared with last year's figures.

A total of 4,472 permits were sold in Honolulu County as of 2 p.m. yesterday. Last year, 6,427 permits were sold.

"With the tragedy of 9/11, people are taking a step back and measuring how important fireworks are to them," said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada. "A lot of them don't want to pay the high price of a permit. They're leaving the big fireworks shows to the professionals."

A state law became effective last year that requires a $25 permit for 5,000 firecrackers.

Battalion Chief Bobby Kendrick of the Training & Safety Division in Hilo said about 1,500 permits were sold in Hilo vs. 2,500 permits last year. On Kauai, Fire Inspector David Bukoski said about 416 firework permits were sold compared with 626 permits at the same time last year. As of 3 p.m. yesterday, Lt. Scott English of the Maui Fire Prevention Bureau said about 300 permits were sold on the Valley Isle, dropping from 580 permits last year.

Meanwhile, Tejada said, as expected, the department was busy but not as bad as previous New Year's Eves

Little smoke from fireworks was visible in Mililani, Waipahu and Pearl City, he said.

The Honolulu Fire Department responded to more than 100 alarms by late last night. Normally, fire fighters receive about 70 alarms a day, Tejada said. Thirty-four medical calls, 10 brush fires, nine rubbish fires and seven firework-related calls were made by 10 p.m.

Firefighter Carlton Yamada of the Honolulu Fire Communications Center said some of the brush fire calls were actually discarded Christmas trees that caught fire. Yamada said fireworks may have caused Christmas tree fires that are left on the curbside for recycling.

Also, last night, police shut down the eastbound lanes on H1 Freeway near the Punahou offramp after a 10:15 p.m. accident sent three people to the hospital.

One woman was taken to Queens Medical Center in critical condition. Two other motorists with lesser injuries were also taken to Queens.

Police were investigating the cause of the accident last night.