The fire chief has spoken — again — on the issue of fireworks. Now that the Fourth of July din has subsided, perhaps Honolulu can hear the man.

Private fireworks extravaganzas just don't mix with the dry heat of midsummer.

The fire chief is faced with a workforce that has been exhausted from battling brushfires, most of which seem to have been deliberately set.

Powerless to stop the unprincipled vandals who set these blazes, Fire Chief Attilio Leonardi has to strike back for public safety somehow. It's a separate issue, but given the firefighting burden the crews already are shouldering, it seems reasonable to ask that at least the safety risk posed by private sales of fireworks be reduced by banning such sales for the Independence Day weekend.

It's never been a popular suggestion. Hawai'i residents have been plainly spoiled by their ability to buy fireworks, and many consider the practice part of the Islands' cultural heritage. That excuse might fly as a defense of New Year's fireworks, but it's not by rights part of the Fourth of July tradition. Actually, the celebration is better served by the ample opportunities to watch aerial displays. O'ahu has more than its fair share of such free spectacles.

Leonardi vows to ask state lawmakers for a ban. The governor suggests that the decision be left to each county, but even with closer baggage inspections at airports, it seems the only way of ensuring compliance on any one island is a restriction that applies to all.