Waimanalo girl injured
in firecracker bomb blast

Rod Ohira
Star-Bulletin

A Waimanalo girl's 14th birthday party turned ugly yesterday when a homemade fireworks bomb exploded in her hands.

The girl suffered a serious injury to her right eye, says Det. James Kawakami, head of police post-blast bomb investigations.

The incident on the 41-700 block of Bell Street was reported at 8:30 p.m.

The girl was handling a "sparkler bomb," Kawakami said, and the severity of her injuries was caused by only "partial detonation" of the device.

"Any time you create or construct a homemade, improvised explosive firecracker device, something's going to happen sooner or later," he said.

"It's going to kick back on you. You're tempting the hands of fate, because homemade bombs are very unstable."

Police also found two homemade explosive devices last night at the base of a utility pole at Ipupai Place and Awiki Street in Mililani.

One bomb was 7 inches long and about 1 inch wide, while the other was 1 inch by 1 inch, Kawakami said. "They were built for explosion."

The larger bomb's fuse was lit, but rain may have prevented detonation, Kawakami said.

Kawakami has investigated more than a dozen reported incidents involving homemade bomb explosions in the last 30 days.

"There's more reported cases, even for this time of year, and a lot more injuries," he said.