Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Star-Bulletin file
Penny Ostapie helps daughters Vea, left, and Mana at Ala
Moana Beach last New Year's. Daughter Loke is at right.

Sales of
firecracker permits
may hit 7,000

The $25 permits will be sold
until 4:45 p.m. today at Satellite
City Halls at three
shopping centers

Light winds, no rain forecast
The law on fireworks

---

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

Expect a New Year's Eve blast with a cast of thousands.

In the first traditional firecracker holiday since state law required a permit to buy them, the Honolulu Fire Department projects firecracker-permit sales may reach 7,000 by the time the Satellite City Halls close today, according to department spokesperson Capt. Richard Soo.

The figure is down significantly from the early 20,000-permit projection, which Soo said could be for a variety of reasons, including the $25 fee attached to every 5,000 firecrackers purchased, or concern over smoke or injuries from fireworks.

He said it's also possible people may have stockpiled fireworks when they were on sale for the Fourth of July, the last time no permit was required.

Light winds, no rain forecast for New Year's Star-Bulletin The National Weather Service is predicting light winds and just a small chance of rain tomorrow evening. That means smoke from fireworks is likely to linger in neighborhoods, but the winds shouldn't be strong enough to spread brush fires quickly. Forecaster Tim Craig said a cold front is moving in north of Kauai that could bring stronger southwesterly winds of 10-15 miles an hour and a greater chance of showers tomorrow night and Monday morning on Kauai and Oahu.

There's also the possibility of black market sales, he said, noting that a Pacific Palisades man was arrested yesterday for selling illegal aerials out of his garage.

Sales could pick up today, Soo said. Yesterday, 2,000 permits were issued, bringing the total for Oahu to 5,400.

About a dozen people were waiting in line for permits when the Pearlridge Satellite City Hall opened at 8 a.m. today. Several said they had waited until the last day because it had taken that long to decide whether they wanted to pay the $25 fee.

"I was thinking about not getting it like everyone else," said 40- year-old Edwin Julian of Ewa. He decided in the end to purchase one permit, although in previous years he said he would burn some 200,000 firecrackers in a night.

According to Satellite City Hall workers, most people purchased one or two permits, although some bought 10 permits. Julian said he thinks most people are getting only one permit "just to say they have it, but they buy more (firecrackers)."

They just pay the permit fee for peace of mind, he said.

As for himself, Julian said he'd stick to what was legal and buy those fireworks for his three sons, ages 7 to 16.

Satellite City Halls at Ala Moana, Pearlridge and Windward malls are open until 4:45 today, selling permits good at retail outlets through 9 p.m. tomorrow.

Managers at Kmart and Wal-Mart said their stores are feeling the sting of the new firecracker law.

This year, neither store stocked firecrackers and the sale of novelty items hasn't made up for the loss in revenue.

"We're just selling the lower-grade fireworks this year," said a manager at Wal-Mart Mililani. Sales of those have remained steady with last year, he said, but haven't increased because people can't buy as many firecrackers.

Legal times for setting off fireworks is from 9 p.m. tomorrow until 1 a.m. Monday.

The new $25 permit required for each purchase of 5,000 firecrackers can be touchy, even with those who were buying them yesterday.

"We have to pay for other people's stupidity and ignorance," said one woman in line to buy a permit at Ala Moana Satellite City Hall yesterday. She said she resents all the rigmarole "just for a traditional holiday," pointing out that a person would have to pay $125 for permits to blast 25,000 firecrackers.

Audrey Yoneshige and son Kyle, 15, of Mililani, were resigned to the $25 fee and ready to blast. "We're just following the law," she said.

Fire Inspector Joseph Zaremba, helping people fill out applications at Ala Moana, said more than 330 permits were issued there yesterday, most with little grumbling.

It you're not bent on making noise, the following can be bought without a permit: sparklers, fountains and cones that spray sparks up to a height of 12 feet, smoke devices, illuminating torches, bamboo cannons, whistles, wheels and ground spinners that stay within a radius of 12 feet.

Tomorrow

Some events of interest

Just Before Midnight, New Year's Eve, Honolulu Harbor: Free fireworks display.

Just Before Midnight, New Year's Eve, Kahala: Free fireworks display fronting Kahala Mandarin Oriental.

The law on fireworks AGAINST THE LAW It is unlawful to: Remove pyrotechnic contents from fireworks. Throw any ignited fireworks from a moving vehicle. Set off fireworks in the vicinity of health-care facilities and facilities for animals. Set off fireworks by schools. Set off fireworks on public ways, or in parks, cane fields or places of worship. Set off, ignite, discharge or otherwise cause to explode any fireworks within 500 feet of any hotel without a permit. Offer for sale, sell or give any fireworks to minors and for any minor to possess, purchase or set off, ignite or otherwise cause to explode. (The exception is that parents or guardians may allow a minor to use fireworks while under immediate supervision and control of an adult.) THE PENALTIES Fireworks violations may result in significant penalties. Any person importing aerial fireworks or special fireworks without first having obtained a license shall be guilty of a Class C felony, punishable by a fine not to exceed $10,000, or imprisonment not to exceed five years, or both. Lesser violations are treated as misdemeanors, punishable by a fine not to exceed $2,000 for each violation. -- Capt. Richard Soo, Honolulu Fire Department