Hawaii
Valleywise Health burn center treating 6 people injured in Hawaii NYE firework tragedy
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Six critically burned patients arrived in Phoenix from Hawaii on Saturday night, following a New Year’s Eve firework tragedy that left three dead and over 20 injured.
The six patients, who are in their 20s and 30s, are in critical condition and have burns covering 60% to 80% of their bodies, said Valleywise Health chief clinical officer Dr. Michael White.
White said all six have a good chance of survival and that Valleywise Health does not expect more patients to be flown in.
Hawaii’s only burn center is located on Oahu where the incident took place, but beds are limited. White said the Diane and Bruce Halle Arizona Burn Center in Phoenix, Arizona’s only burn center and one of the largest in the country, has the ability to help.
“When the call is made, we’re more than happy, if we have the capacity and expertise, to help these patients,” White said.
According to Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, the six were chosen due to the severity of traumatic injuries and burns sustained during the incident. Green authorized a C-17 military transport to fly them into Phoenix and it arrived at Sky Harbor International Airport around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
On X, Phoenix mayor Kate Gallego applauded Phoenix Fire’s efforts to transport the patients from Sky Harbor.
Phoenix fire officials collaborated with both state and federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, to ensure the patients were transported to Valleywise Health safely.
“This shows our dedication to saving lives beyond our state borders,” a Phoenix Fire Department spokesperson said.
Among those flown into Arizona was a mother of a 3-month-old.
On the cusp of New Year’s Day, three people died and over 20 were injured from a firework explosion around midnight in the Aliamanu, also known as the Salt Lake, neighborhood near Pearl Harbor and Honolulu on Hawaii’s third largest island.
What caused the explosion?
In a Jan. 1 press conference from the Honolulu Police Department, authorities said a person lit a firework “cake” containing around 50 individual aerial fireworks that somehow tipped over, shooting into other crates also filled with fireworks and resulting in the fatal explosion. Authorities estimated fireworks recovered at the scene cost tens of thousands of dollars.
“It looked like a war zone,” Honolulu Fire Chief Sheldon Hao said during the press conference.
Videos posted on social media appear to show dozens of fireworks exploding in a massive, bright blaze, with plumes of smoke rising in the air. The blast appeared to explode on a resident’s front lawn, along a dense neighborhood street dotted with parked cars.
Twenty-three adults and three children were seriously and critically injured in the explosion, though the estimate does not account for those who admitted themselves into the hospital, authorities said. Two women died at the scene and a third passed away a few hours later.
“Make no mistake, it was a bomb … it was a firework bomb,” Gov. Green said.
Most people injured sustained burns, but injuries also included those caused by shrapnel that were “gruesome,” said Honolulu Emergency Services Department director Dr. Jim Ireland at the press conference.
Honolulu police said the person who lit the fireworks, as well as those who potentially supplied the illegal ones, may face criminal prosecution pending the investigation.
A fourth person died due to an unrelated firework incident in the Kalihi area about six miles away.
‘Best left to the professionals’
Fireworks are fundamentally dangerous, Dr. White from Valleywise Health noted. “They are explosive devices. (There’s) risk for burns and risk for injuries such as this,” he said.
In Phoenix, any firework that is designed to shoot off the ground is illegal and can carry a misdemeanor charge, fines or jail time, according to Sgt. Brian Bower with Phoenix police.
Fines for illegal fireworks vary per city:
- Avondale: $1,000.
- Chandler: $1,000.
- Gilbert: $1,000.
- Glendale: $1,500 on first offense, $2,000 on second offense.
- Goodyear: $1,000.
- Mesa: First offense $500; each subsequent offense between $1,000 and $2,500.
- Peoria: $750.
- Phoenix: $1,000.
- Queen Creek: $1,000.
- Tempe: $1,000.
- Tolleson: $250.
- Scottsdale: Minimum fine of $275.
- Surprise: No less than $150, no more than $1,000.
Cities also can hold residents liable for fire damage and emergency responses related to fireworks use. “Fireworks should be left to the professionals,” White said.
Multiple GoFundMe pages have been started to aid those who were injured or died in the New Year’s Eve incident.
Three convicted sex offenders were arrested on Hawaii Island last week for allegedly failing to comply with sex offender registry requirements.
Multiple law-enforcement agencies conducted checks in Kona on registered sex offenders who had been identified as potentially out of compliance with the state’s Sex Offender Registry laws, according the Department of the Attorney General.
As a result of the three-day operation, several individuals were brought back into compliance, and three West Hawaii men were arrested for allegedly failing to comply with the requirements.
The three men who were arrested are Joseph Debus, 56, of Kailua-Kona, Garth Coleman, 53, of Holualoa and Alexsandr Skelcey, 34, of Kailua-Kona.
Debus was convicted of second-degree sex assault in Hawaii in 1993 and sentenced to five years probation with a year in jail. Coleman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for first-degree assault in 2000 after a jury trial in Hawaii. And Skelcey was convicted in Michigan in 2012 of assault with intent to commit sex assault.
“Sex offender registration requirements exist to protect our communities and ensure law enforcement knows where convicted offenders are living,” Tom Alipio, chief of the AG department’s Investigations Division, said in a press release. “Compliance operations like this send a clear message that we will actively monitor the registry, investigate violations and work closely with our law enforcement partners to hold offenders accountable when they fail to meet their legal obligations.”
HPD Chief Reed Mahuna said, “Operations like this allow us to verify that offenders are maintaining strict compliance with registration laws and those who aren’t will be addressed immediately. We will continue to leverage these multi-agency partnerships to keep our island communities safe,”
Members of the public can look up publicly available offender information and subscribe to notifications at sexoffenders.ehawaii.gov/coveredoffender/.
Anyone with information regarding a registered sex offender who may be violating registration requirements is encouraged to contact the Department of the Attorney General’s Investigation Division at (808) 586-1240 or their local law enforcement.
A brush in North Kona, near the Ulu Wini Apartments, has closed a portion of Hina Lani Street, between Route 190 and Ane Keokalole Highway.
According to Hawai‘i Island police, the road is expected to be closed for the next three hours and motorists are advised to avoid the area.
Hawai‘i Fire Assistant Chief Chris Carvalho confirmed at least two engines, two brush trucks, Chopper 2 and a medic vehicle responded to the blaze that started in some bushes.
No evacuations or injuries have been reported at this time.
At 11:09 a.m., an AlertWest camera, installed by Hawaiian Electric in wildfire-prone areas, showed smoke billowing above the Keahuolu Courthouse. As of 12:06 p.m., that smoke appears to have dissipated.
This is a developing story. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
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