HONOLULU — A fifth person has died from injuries suffered during a massive explosion of illegal fireworks at a Honolulu home over New Year’s that prompted Hawaii authorities to reevaluate how they enforce the state’s fireworks laws, police said Tuesday.
The 29-year-old man was one of six people flown to a hospital in Arizona for treatment earlier this month because Hawaii’s only burn care facility hit capacity with other patients from the same blast.
The Maricopa County medical examiner’s office identified him as Kevin Vallesteros. The office has not yet determined his cause and manner of death. Honolulu police said he died Tuesday morning.
The explosion also killed a 3-year-old boy and three women and injured more than 20 people.
The blast set off fresh calls for a crackdown on illegal fireworks that have become increasingly more common in Hawaii. Contraband explosives rock neighborhoods year-round, but grow in frequency around the year-end holidays and Lunar New Year, which is celebrated on Wednesday this year.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green proposed imposing $300 tickets that police could issue to those who shoot off fireworks and potential class A felony charges and decades in prison for those whose use of fireworks leads to serious injury or death. The state Department of Law Enforcement has asked the Legislature for $5.2 million to hire eight people and expand a forensic lab to counter rampant fireworks smuggling.
Lawmakers were expected to consider these measures during the current legislative session ending in May.
Hawaii authorities have said existing laws are difficult to enforce, in part because the evidence is often incinerated when fireworks are lit. Residents are also often reluctant to testify against their neighbors, making cases difficult to prove in court. Police wouldn’t need to collect evidence to issue the $300 citations Green proposed and a police officer could serve as a witness.
The Kauai Fire Department urged residents to make safety their top priority when they use fireworks to celebrate Lunar New Year. Chief Michael Gibson recommended supervising children around fireworks and educating everyone about the dangers of improperly using fireworks.
“Never light fireworks in your hand or throw them,” he said in a statement.
The New Year’s explosion in Honolulu happened when a lit bundle of mortar-style aerials tipped over and shot into crates of unlit fireworks, causing a rapid-fire series of blasts.
The U.S. military, at Green’s request, flew six patients to Phoenix on Jan. 4. All were in their 20s or 30s with burns covering 45% to 80% of their bodies.
Flying particles and debris from the explosion left some of the patients with wounds resembling battlefield injuries.