Posted on: Saturday, July 2, 2005

EDITORIAL
Curb fireworks for a safe Fourth of July

In addition to enjoying the usual Fourth of July feast of hotdogs and potato salad, Hawai'i residents can show love of homeland this weekend through a simple gesture: They can do what they can to keep the homeland from going up in flames, due to a stray spark from a firecracker.

Fire Department officials are worried that holiday fireworks will wreak havoc, igniting the statewide tinderbox created by the dry summer weather. So it's distressing to learn that the number of fireworks permits is up this year, a foreshadowing of a spike in related injuries.

Families must do what they can to see that proper safety measures are enforced around fireworks use, especially where keiki are concerned.

Better still: Let's not go overboard with the firecrackers. It's not essential to the Independence Day celebration, particularly with the ever-expanding program of organized pyrotechnic displays. Those with tickets to Kane'ohe's BayFest can enjoy fireworks at 10:30 nightly through the weekend. Free shows are set for 8:45 p.m. Sunday off Aloha Tower Marketplace; and on Independence Day, at 7:30 p.m. off Kailua Beach and at 8:30 p.m. off Magic Island and at Schofield Barracks' Sills Field.

These events are fun. They're patriotic. And they're safe.