Three people died on New Year's Eve due to a Honolulu fireworks explosion. Photo: Hawaii Governor Josh Green Facebook
Three bills are going through Hawai'i's legislature system in a bid to control illegal fireworks.
It comes the wake of a deadly fireworks explosion on New Year's Eve which killed six people and left others hospitalised with serious burns.
The first two bills were introduced on 15 January and passing their first readings that day.
One would set up an enforcement division for illegal fireworks within Hawai'i's Department of Law Enforcement.
The other would get money for the Illegal Fireworks Task Force until 2030 and extend the force's end date from 6 June this year to 6 June 2030.
The third bill, introduced on 23 January, would amend definitions and penalties for fireworks offenses, including heightened offenses if another person receives substantial or serious injury, or dies, as a result of the offense.
It would also establish criminal offenses of sending or receiving fireworks or pyrotechnic articles by air delivery; distributing fireworks or pyrotechnic articles to non-permit holders; and refusal to provide identification; as well as set up an adjudication system and procedures to process fireworks infractions.
Aerial fireworks have been illegal in Hawaiʻi since 2000, and most consumer fireworks except for firecrackers have been outlawed on Oʻahu since 2011.
Civil Beat last month reported state senators declined to move forward with a statewide ban on all fireworks, and instead were looking at the above bills to strengthen law enforcement's ability to investigate and prosecute fireworks cases.
Under the proposed changes, an aerial device would be defined as anything that shoots at least 12 feet into the air and explodes or emits fireballs.
Hawai'i News Now reported the night of the New Year's Eve blast, three people were initially killed, and more than 20 were sent to the hospital in critical and serious condition.
Six survivors were flown to Arizona for specialized burn treatment and one of those patients died on 28 January, with Arizona Burn Center director Dr Kevin Foster saying the man's injuries were "really not compatible with life, and we did our very best for him".
In early February, Foster said they would "probably be discharging just about everybody" over the next several weeks.
The patients' post-discharge rehabilitation plans had not been finalized at the time and Foster said they will likely be dealing with pain with for years to come.
