Honolulu firefighters have responded to more than 200 brushfires this year, well above the pace from 2004.

Dan Galanis, an employee of the state Department of Health's injury prevention and control program, said there were 32 fireworks-related injuries on July 4, 2004, compared to 17 the year before.

He said an increased number of fireworks permits issued — 293 for last July Fourth compared to 179 the year before — probably contributed to the spike in injuries. As of Saturday, 330 permits had been sold this year, the city said. But that's just a fraction of the more than 8,600 permits sold for last New Year's Eve.

Galanis urged everyone planning on playing with fireworks to exercise caution.

"Supervise children, that's kind of a big thing," he said.

The firecracker permit system was established by the Legislature in 2000 after a particularly loud and smoke-filled New Year's celebration.

Over the two-day holiday period that year, police reported receiving more than 2,595 fireworks-related complaints and responding to a fireworks injury or health problem every 30 minutes. Air pollution in Honolulu that New Year's Eve was reported to be 10 times the accepted federal standard.

Tejada said he hopes people exercise common sense. "We're just hoping that people really take to heart what we say," he said. "People still need to know that even though we talk about it a lot, it (accidents) still happens, and they do need to plan for their own safety."