Fireworks Safety Tips from Hawaiian Electric

Fireworks over Maui
Photo Courtesy: Theresa Serianni

As tens of thousands of residents plan to ring in 2018 with fireworks, Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric and Hawaiʻi Electric Light are urging caution and offering the following safety tips:

• • Carefully set up and use fireworks in an area clear of overhead power lines.
  • Do not string fireworks on utility poles.
  • Ensure a 10-foot clearance from power lines when using ladders or other tools to string fireworks.
  • If an object should become tangled in an overhead power line, don’t try to free it.

Call the trouble line at:

• Oahu 1-855-304-1212
• Maui (808) 871-7777
• Lānaʻi or Molokaʻi toll free at 1-877-871-8461
• Hawaiʻi Island (808) 969-6666

A fireworks permit is not required for consumer fireworks such as sparklers, snakes, and cylindrical or cone fountains which emit effects not higher than 12 feet off the ground. However, a fireworks permit is required for the use of fire crackers. Each permit costs $25, and is good for the purchase of up to 5,000 pieces of fire crackers.

Hawaiʻi state law dictates that anyone purchasing, possessing, storing, setting off, igniting or discharging aerial devices, display fireworks or articles pyrotechnic without a valid pyrotechnic permit may face felony charges resulting in a five-year term of imprisonment if convicted.

Fireworks can only be legally set off from 9 p.m. New Year’s Eve to 1 a.m. New Year’s Day. Setting off fireworks outside of designated times is punishable by law, with violators subject to fines of up to $2,000.

For more information on public Aerial Fireworks Displays on Maui, click here.