After three surgeries, with another scheduled, her hand still aches. Permanent damage is possible, said her doctors at Kaiser Moanalua Medical Center, where Cydnee has been since the explosion.

It's unlikely that she'll get to play hockey, the sport she loves.

"I was lighting firecrackers and throwing them off the bridge when all of a sudden these guys lit up a bucket and it blew up and my hand got cut," Cydnee said from her hospital room yesterday. "I am really mad at these people. I didn't do anything to deserve this."

Police still are looking for witnesses to the blast, which occurred early in the morning on New Year's Day, just after midnight, in front of a house at 98-136 Kihale Street in 'Aiea, said police Detective Letha DeCaires.

It is unclear what caused the blast, but investigators suspect that homemade or some other type of illegal fireworks were inside the bucket, which was filled with sand and metal plates, said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Kenison Tejada. Homemade fireworks are illegal and very dangerous. When the bucket exploded, shards of metal flew like shrapnel.

The men whom Cydnee saw with the bucket were seen earlier in the evening filling balloons with propane gas and igniting them off the bridge.

Police need the public's help in identifying who set off the explosion.

Cydnee was standing on the mauka side of the bridge behind a parked car when she heard the explosion. She threw up her left hand to protect her face from a flying chunk of concrete.

Four cars also were damaged by the blast.

Cydnee's mother, Tanya Somera, said they were at an acquaintance's house to ring in the new year when she saw her daughter running up to her just after midnight — with blood everywhere.

"I couldn't tell where she had gotten hurt," said Somera, who lives in 'Ewa Beach. "She thought her hand had been cut off. She was covered in blood."

The area fronting the home on Kihale Street was cleaned by the time police arrived, about 90 minutes later, said police Detective Eric Yiu.

"Everyone claims to have their backs turned when the explosion occurred," Yiu said. "We don't know what detonated the sand/metal in the bucket. No one will step forward."

Gil Respicio said he was in his bathroom when the explosion occurred, and the force blew open his medicine cabinet door.

"That was the first time I've ever heard a big bang like that," said Respicio, who has lived on Kihale Street since 1959. "There always is a lot of fireworks here."

Sid Somera, Cydnee's father, said at a news conference yesterday at Kaiser Moanalua that he hoped someone would come forward so that the people responsible could be held accountable.

Cydnee suffered broken bones in her wrist and severed tendons in her fingers.

On Wednesday night, she underwent her third surgery to repair the broken bones. Next week, she will have another surgery to repair nerve damage.

His daughter is worried because she has no feeling in her pinky finger, Sid Somera said.

"I ask the people to put themselves in my place and come forward with information," he said. "I have a very scared little girl up there. We need to get some information so this doesn't happen again. We need to protect kids from something like this."

Cydnee's injury was the only one reported this New Year's, despite it being one of the smokiest on record. Police received 949 fireworks-related calls from Dec. 26 through Jan. 2. That is a 56 percent increase over the number of calls the year before.

Dan Galanis of the Health Department's injury prevention program said 94 people were admitted to emergency rooms on O'ahu for fireworks-related injuries.