Angelina Bagaforo was celebrating New Year's Eve in Hawaiʻi like many others. She remembered fireworks illuminating the skies across Oʻahu and kids playing outside her house with sparklers.
Three minutes before midnight, the 29-year-old heard continuous explosions from a house across the street in Oʻahu's Salt Lake-Āliamanu neighborhood.
"I just thought it was the grand finale, but it got really loud, really fast, and really bright," she said. "I immediately knew there was something wrong."
At that moment, she no longer heard children's laughter, instead, adults screaming.
The explosion left three women dead and over 20 injured, including children. The Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner has identified two women who were killed: Nelie Ibarra, 58, and Jennifer Van, 23. The office said the identity of the third woman has not yet been confirmed.
Local authorities have said someone lit a cake of aerial fireworks near the carport of the home at 4144 Keaka Drive. The cake had tipped, or the table fell over, and shot into a box of crates containing more fireworks.
Bagaforo and her housemates initially took cover at the back of their home until the explosions stopped.
"The aftermath was terrible," she said. "There was glass everywhere, dropped ceilings, debris, and people all over the place."
She then ran outside to look for people to help as first responders started to arrive.
The entire street was covered in gunpowder. Bagaforo eventually found a man lying on his side just outside the house of 4144 Keaka Drive with his face covered in blood, in and out of consciousness.
"His whole shin was split open," Bagaforo said. As she held his head to help stabilize him, he repeatedly asked her where his 2-month-old son was.
She couldn't give him an answer other than asking for his information to give to emergency medical responders.
"In fight or flight, the reaction was, 'I'm not hurt. I can go help somebody,'" she said.
Bagaforo's legs have some bruises and cuts from that night.
The aftermath
Neighbors on Keaka Drive are rattled after the deadly explosion, caused by illegal fireworks.
The neighborhood still smelled of gunpowder, and leftover debris from the aerial fireworks was scattered on the street. Some homes were left with shattered glass, busted doors, and collapsed ceilings.
On Thursday morning, HPR spoke to several neighbors on Keaka Drive, most of whom declined to be interviewed.
Some are still trying to process what happened. Others have called their insurance companies and had their damaged cars towed from the street.
One neighbor, who didn't want to be named, was away for New Year's Eve, then came back to find her windows shattered.
"What did they do, these people," she said in dismay.
A friend of one of the people who live in the three-story home at 4144 Keaka Drive declined to be interviewed. He placed a bouquet of flowers on the property.
Some people, most likely from nearby streets, drove their cars past the house, observing the scene as they took photos and videos.
Most of the debris has been cleared from that house.
The state banned all fireworks, except firecrackers, in 2011. However, people continue to access them, and state lawmakers have been trying to crack down on the problem.
Bagaforo is from Guam and has lived in Hawaiʻi for three years. She said she doesn't have much to say about illegal fireworks in the state other than that New Year's Eve should be celebrated safely.
"I like to enjoy them," she said, "I'm not necessarily the type of person that likes to fire them off. It's a fun event to have in a controlled environment with people who are experienced."
Bagaforo said she and her housemates would need to temporarily move as their home suffered some damages.
As she swept the glass from her driveway, another neighbor offered to hold her.
She said the Red Cross had come to give people on the street some counseling support, but her feelings about the situation are "of ebb and flow."
When she has some downtime, she thinks about that day.
"It's not the structural or vehicle damage," she said. "It's the families that lost their friends and their loved ones, their families that are still praying over the ones that are in the hospital. Like that's kind of what really hits hard."
