If you have illegal fireworks, here's how you can turn them in on O‘ahu with no questions asked, so they can be disposed of safely.
The Department of Law Enforcement (DLE) will be collecting unused or unwanted fireworks this Saturday, Jan. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Aloha Stadium.
People wanting to participate in the fireworks amnesty event are asked to enter the lower Hālawa parking lot through the lower Salt Lake Boulevard entrance at Gate #4.
Fireworks must be in a container in the vehicle’s trunk or in the bed of trucks. People are asked to remain in their vehicles while first responders collect them.
Homemade or modified fireworks, improvised explosives, guns, or ammunition will not be accepted at this turn-in event.
Officials say it's dangerous to store fireworks at home and that they should also be properly disposed of, not thrown away in everyday household rubbish.
Four people, including a 3-year-old boy, died from a New Year's Eve fireworks explosion in Oʻahu's Salt Lake-Āliamanu neighborhood. Dozens of others were injured. Many remain hospitalized with severe injuries, including six patients who were transported via military plane to Arizona over the weekend for further medical treatment.
Local authorities previously said someone lit a cake of aerial fireworks, which then tipped over and shot into a box of crates containing more fireworks at the home on Keaka Drive. First responders described the scene as a warzone.
Officials are hoping the tragic event illustrates the dangers that illegal fireworks pose and will prompt people to give them up.
Saturday's event is hosted by DLE, the Hawai‘i Department of the Attorney General, the Honolulu Police Department, the Honolulu Fire Department, Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The last fireworks turn-in program for O‘ahu was held on Dec. 17, 2023. Officials collected roughly 500 pounds of fireworks in that one-day event.
There have been no amnesty programs since.
No additional fireworks turn-in events for other islands are planned at this time.
