Oahu rang in 2026 with significantly fewer fireworks-related fires and “a below-average night” for emergency medical crews in a marked shift from the chaos and death that marred the previous New Year’s Eve celebration, authorities reported Thursday.
The quieter night followed intensified enforcement, expanded drone surveillance and closer coordination among state and county agencies, even as officials acknowledged that staffing shortages and legal limitations continue to constrain how aggressively illegal aerial fireworks can be combated.
Honolulu Emergency Services Department officials said paramedics transported six patients overnight, including a 7-year-old girl, for fireworks-related injuries, including burns, blast injuries and “penetrating trauma.” None of the injured were considered to be critical, and EMS did not respond to any life-threatening fireworks injuries, a notable improvement from past years.
“Although Honolulu EMS was busy last night, we had a below-average night for New Year’s Eve compared to past years,” Honolulu EMS spokesperson Sunny Johnson said at a New Year’s Day news conference.
Paramedics were dispatched around 10:35 p.m. Wednesday to a Nana Place address in Kaneohe where the 7-year-old girl suffered serious burns to her extremities, EMS said. Based on the nature of the wounds, officials suspect illegal fireworks were involved.
“We saw mostly glass-type injuries, which you don’t typically see from legal fireworks,” said HFD Capt. Jaimie Song, referring to wounds caused by sharp fragments from exploding aerial shells rather than the burns more commonly associated with legal consumer fireworks.
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The serious cases include an incident at 12:10 a.m. Thursday, when EMS responded to a Liula Street address, also in Kaneohe, where paramedics treated three patients for injuries from a suspected fireworks blast.
One of the patients, a 63-year-old woman, had a traumatic injury to her abdomen, and a 65-year-old woman suffered a traumatic injury to both legs. Both were taken in serious condition to a hospital. A man in his 60s sustained a minor injury and declined transport to a hospital, EMS said.
Four minutes later, at 12:14 p.m., a 48-year-old man was reported to have suffered a fireworks-related head injury on Waipio Point Access Road. He was taken to a hospital by paramedics in serious condition.
In contrast, New Year’s Eve 2024 saw dozens of fireworks-related fires and injuries statewide, along with the deaths of six people, including a 3-year-old child, who were killed when a cache of illegal fireworks exploded at a home in Aliamanu. The tragedy led to renewed public outrage and pressure on lawmakers and law enforcement agencies to crack down on illegal aerial fireworks.
Things were a little more hectic for the Honolulu Police Department. From 6 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday, police responded to 592 calls for service related to fireworks across the island, and two people were arrested for fireworks-related offenses.
HPD said a full report detailing citations and arrests will be released Monday in coordination with the state Department of Law Enforcement.
Meanwhile, Honolulu Fire Department officials reported only two fireworks-related fire incidents overnight, down from 30 a year ago.
One involved an aerial firework landing in a vacant lot in Waianae and igniting a small brush fire that was quickly extinguished. In a separate incident, a firework landed on the roof of a church in town but no fire resulted.
“We got quite lucky that it wasn’t more significant or severe,” Song said. “It does highlight the dangers of illegal aerial fireworks — the fire damage and the potential that it has for loss of one’s property … .”
A garage fire in Ewa Beach initially raised concerns about fireworks involvement, but investigators later determined it was caused by lithium-ion batteries charging in the garage. Legal firecrackers were present but did not cause or contribute to the fire, Song said.
In the hours leading up to midnight, DLE invited reporters on a first-ever New Year’s Eve ride-along as it deployed drones and plainclothes teams in Pearl City and nearby communities known as fireworks “hot spots.”
DLE Director Mike Lambert said six drones were sent airborne during the evening, though more than a dozen were available.
“We just don’t have enough pilots,” Lambert said, citing a statewide staffing shortage.
The drones cost roughly $30,000 each per year to lease, he said, and are deployed in a strategy to keep up with rapidly evolving technology. The drones can fly up to 400 feet off the ground and travel up to 20 minutes out and 20 minutes back from their station at the Honolulu Police Department Academy in Waipahu, allowing operators to monitor fireworks activity as far as Waikele.
The Skydio X10 drones can provide live video feeds and help identify where fireworks are being launched, but Lambert stressed that enforcement and any potential prosecution are bound by strict legal requirements.
“To make it a violation, we have to see the person lighting it,” he said. “We’ve got to play by the rules.”
The drones are restricted to public airspace and can help identify where fireworks are being launched, but officers must still directly observe a violation or gather sufficient evidence before issuing a citation.
Lambert said drones may only record activity in public spaces such as streets, sidewalks and parks, since observations made over private property would not be admissible in court, though drone footage can be used to guide officers on the ground to trouble areas.
In some cases, officers used a “knock and burn” approach to discourage the use of illegal fireworks, alerting residents they are being watched even when evidence was insufficient to issue a citation.
“It’s frustrating because the fireworks are right there,” Lambert said. “But we need to go by the law and do things the right way.”
He described enforcement tactics similar to those employed to break up cockfights, whereby offenses are observed before officers move in with ground teams. Plainclothes officers in unmarked vehicles were stationed nearby while drones hovered roughly 100 feet away.
By about 8 p.m. Wednesday, activity had remained relatively light compared to previous years, though Lambert acknowledged: “There’s going to be a point in the night when we’re going to be overrun. I’m not delusional.”
DLE received hundreds of tips through a hotline shared with HPD, with reports coming in from Ewa Beach, Kailua, Kaneohe and Kapolei. Four pages of tips — roughly 120 reports — were logged by Wednesday afternoon, according to Lambert.
HFD and EMS officials credited improved coordination among law enforcement and first-responder agencies following lessons learned from the previous New Year’s mayhem.
“Leading up to New Year’s, we did prepare. We tried to learn from last year, so we had some extra resources available,” EMS’s Johnson said. “We’re just thankful that it didn’t happen like it happened last year, and we’re thankful for the community for helping out and keeping everyone safe.”
Song said officials aim to eliminate fireworks-related injuries and property damage entirely, noting improvements this year but emphasizing that enforcement alone is not enough.
Authorities are urging residents to continue celebrating responsibly throughout the holiday weekend. Illegal fireworks can be reported anonymously by calling the tip line at 808-517-2182 or submitting a report through the DLE website, law.hawaii.gov, and the 911 lines are also available.