500 pounds of illegal, unwanted fireworks turned in during Fireworks Amnesty event : Maui Now

Approximately 515 pounds of illegal/unwanted fireworks were turned in by the public at a Fireworks Amnesty Program event held over the weekend on Oʻahu.

Director Jordan Lowe of the Hawaiʻi Department of Law Enforcement said, “We thank the community for participating in the Fireworks Amnesty turn-in event. DLE will be working proactively to limit the availability of illegal fireworks in our neighborhoods.”

The program was held today from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. where community members could drop off illegal/unwanted fireworks, no questions asked.  The four drop-off sites included Fire Station 9 in Kakaʻako, Fire Station 12 in Waipahu, Fire Station 40 in Kapolei and Fire Station 41 in Mililani Mauka.

Representatives of the Department of Law Enforcement at each location collected boxes and bags of fireworks that included firecrackers, sparklers, cracker balls, and skyrockets and various other fireworks from the public.

In June 2023, Governor Josh Green signed into law Senate Bill 821 that became Act 67, establishing an Illegal Fireworks Task Force through the Department of Law Enforcement.

The task force is comprised of representatives from the US Attorney General’s Office, District of Hawaiʻi, US Department of Homeland Security; Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Federal Bureau of Investigations; US Coast Guard, US Customs Border Protection and Office of Homeland Security Investigations of the US Department of Homeland Security.

Its goal is “to stop the importation of illegal fireworks and explosives into the state, promote compliance with the state fireworks control laws and ensure the safety and security of airports, harbors and other facilities and institutions in the state against the discharge of illegal fireworks and explosives.”

Since its inception in July, the Illegal Fireworks Task Force has seized over 3,000 pounds of illegal fireworks.

“Fireworks are dangerous,” Lowe said. “When you look at the construction and composition of fireworks, you’re dealing with explosive materials or some type of flammable, hazardous composition of powders.”