3 women died, over 2 dozen people injured in Aliamanu fireworks explosion

Three women were killed and about two dozen people injured in an Aliamanu home when a “cake bomb” filled with illegal aerial fireworks set off massive explosions at 12:01 at a big New Year’s party.

At an afternoon news conference Wednesday at Honolulu Police Department headquarters, Gov. Josh Green, Mayor Rick Blangiardi and heads of city agencies repeatedly used words like “horrifying,” “horrific” and “a war zone” to describe the chaotic “crowd.” casualty” event that first responders found when they arrived at 4137 Keaka Drive just after midnight.

“It was a bomb. It was a firework bomb. It was a bomb that went off,” Green said. He said someone lit a “cake bomb,” which contained multiple antennae, that tipped over and launched the explosives into the home’s carport, igniting a huge cache of other fireworks.

Two women were dead at the scene, while a third, in her early 20s, died later at a hospital, officials said.

Honolulu Police Chief Arthur “Joe” Logan said 23 adults and three children suffered critical or serious injuries.

Dr. Jim Ireland, director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, said the patients transported were “mostly critical” and taken to hospitals across Oahu, while an unknown number of other less seriously injured people were transported to hospitals in private vehicles.

Green said he expected there will be one or two children under the age of 10 who will be permanently disfigured or die from their injuries. He later described two children, aged 1 and 3, who were seriously injured.

A total of 13 city and federal ambulances made 14 trips to hospitals as first responders set up a triage area to prioritize the most seriously injured, Ireland said. The triage area had to be set up several houses away from the home because the street was so clogged with cars that first responders had difficulty accessing the blast site, he said.

Many of the injured were so badly injured they could not speak, and paramedics were unable to get their names and other vital information, according to Ireland.

Honolulu Fire Chief Sheldon K. Hao said one woman was found dead in the driveway of the home and another was in the street. Neighbors said the two were sisters, both mothers in their 50s and one a grandmother.

“It really looked like a war zone and like a bomb dropped right in front of that house,” Hao said.

Residents of Keaka Drive could be found later Wednesday sweeping broken glass, exploded fireworks, ash and other debris from the street.

“It’s heartbreaking, especially for the kids,” said Art Balon, who lives next door at 4137 Keaka Drive. He estimated that more than 25 children under the age of 10 were at the party and were injured.

Another man who came to the scene said his 2-year-old nephew remains hospitalized.

“The explosion was like no other,” said Balon, 43. “You basically thought it was a bomb. The whole house shook,” shattered windows.

Logan said police recovered “tens of thousands of dollars” worth of illegal fireworks from the home. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted police Wednesday morning and “stands ready to assist again if requested,” Jason Chudy, spokesman for the bureau’s Seattle Field Division, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

Logan said a fireworks “cake” containing about 50 individual cartridges of aerial fireworks was lit and knocked over, shooting sparks and other pyrotechnic material into the carport and setting off the fireworks.

Samantha Warren, 22, was standing outside her home across the street at midnight when the explosions began.

“One of the fireworks had gone off but didn’t go off,” she said. “It was launched at ground level. It ignited all the remaining fireworks and they all went off at once.”

“It didn’t seem like a big deal at first,” but when Warren realized they all had to leave, she managed to hide in front of her truck parked in her garage, “until it slowed down and we all ran in.”

Jack Kaauwai Jr., 53, who has lived since 1972 at the corner of Keaka Drive and Pakini Street, was still on edge hours after the blast. He said he saw 30 people lying on the ground as several others jumped into action to help paramedics.

“It was a big party,” said Kaauwai, who paid a brief visit to the gathering and left only 10 to 15 minutes before the deadly incident.

“People were yelling and screaming and they were in pain. Paramedics told us what to do. The bigger guys helped them load the people. I’ve seen elementary school kids and teenagers,” he said. “Everybody was in that puff of smoke. The damage felt like it was a war zone.”

His sister, Kristal Kaauwai, 38, said the two women who died were sisters and one lived next door to them.

She said the son of the woman who lived next door was looking for his mother in the chaos. “I held him,” Kaauwai said.

“I saw bodies scattered all around,” she said. “I saw a child burned. A woman ran to bring the child to the ambulance.”

She also remembered seeing a young woman whose clothes were burnt off and her hair was burnt.

Other witnesses who spoke to the Star-Advertiser described victims in shock and asking to be doused in water to cool their burning skin. Jacob Samson, 21, said their skin was already peeling off and many had second- and third-degree burns.

“A girl’s big toe was blown up,” he said.

Still others were hit with shrapnel from the explosions.

Mike John, 23, who was visiting from Los Angeles, recalled seeing “people’s clothes being burned off.” Another person was missing a leg, but the worst, he said, was an infant whose “skin was completely gone.”

Marietta Corpuz, 62, who lives across the street from the party house, had gone outside a few minutes before midnight and was standing near her family’s truck. She doesn’t remember how, but when the explosion happened, she ended up sheltered under the tailgate of the truck with her 12-year-old daughter.

The Corpuzes’ ceramic tile roof was cracked during the fireworks explosion.

Balon agreed with officials that “This year it’s gotten out of hand. ‘Let’s beat last year. Let’s beat my next door neighbor,'” he said, adding that illegal fireworks have been glorified on social media and are now normalized in Hawaii.

“It’s too late for all the victims,” ​​Balon said, too late for legislation and more police presence and patrols, tighter controls at the ports, despite decades of pressure for what he wants to see, including “tougher penalties.”

But some of his neighbors said they still love fireworks.

Both Blangiardi and Green expressed frustration with the proliferation of illegal aerial fireworks in Hawaii and said they are determined to make major changes to curb their use.

“Enough is enough. This situation is out of control,” Blangiardi said, adding: “This is terrible. This must be a watershed moment for society to finally discourage the use of illegal aerial fireworks.

Green echoed the sentiment.

The governor, an emergency room doctor, emphasized that the damage was gruesome and extensive, with brain matter sprayed on car and house windows across the street from the blast. He said the public needs to understand how horrific the event was so that changes can be made to reduce the use of illegal fireworks in Hawaii.

People were still shooting down several houses from aerials as medics drove by to save lives, Green said.

“I hope people wake up. … This is clearly a threat. … This is a threat to public safety and health.”

Green asked people with fireworks left over from the New Year to “take a break” and not set them off in the coming days. He said the state will have an amnesty program for people to turn in illegal fireworks.

The governor said he will work with the state legislature to address the fight against illegal fireworks in Hawaii. Penalties will need to be “very, very strict” to deter the use of illegal aerial fireworks, he said, calling for possession of more than 50 pounds of illegal fireworks to be raised to a Class C felony with a prison sentence of five years and a $10,000 fine.

In addition to the three deaths at Aliamanu, a fourth person died of fireworks-related injuries in Kalihi overnight. HPD said at 11:04 p.m., that a 19-year-old man suffered fatal fireworks-related injuries. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead around 12:30 p.m

Further details were not available.

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Star-Advertiser staff writer Peter Boylan contributed to this report.