A fifth person has died from injuries suffered during a massive explosion of illegal fireworks at an Āliamanu home over New Year's, police said Tuesday.
The 29-year-old man was one of six patients flown to a hospital in Arizona for treatment earlier this month because Hawaiʻi's only burn care facility hit capacity with other patients from the same blast. All six were in their 20s or 30s with burns covering 45% to 80% of their bodies.
The man died at 6:42 a.m. Hawaiʻi time, Honolulu police said. The medical examiner for Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, identified him as Kevin Vallesteros.
The explosion also killed a 3-year-old boy and three women, and injured more than 20 people.
The Honolulu medical examiner previously identified the four as Cassius Ramos-Benigno, 58-year-old Nelie Ibarra, 23-year-old Jennifer Van and 61-year-old Carmelita Benigno.
Some wounds suffered by the residents flown to Arizona were comparable to battlefield injuries, the doctor overseeing their care said previously.
Dr. Kevin Foster, the director of the Arizona Burn Center in Phoenix, said flying particles and debris from the explosion inflicted traumatic injuries.
“In addition to the thermal injury that comes from the heat and the flame and the fire, we also have an explosive nature to this with particles moving at very high speeds striking patients,” Foster said at previous a news conference.
The blast happened at a three-story home with a bottom-level carport in a residential neighborhood on Oʻahu.
The Honolulu Police Department arrested a 33-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman last week in connection with the explosion for reckless endangering in the first degree, endangering the welfare of a minor in the first degree, and multiple fireworks offenses.
The blast prompted fresh calls for a crackdown on illegal fireworks that have become increasingly more common in Hawaiʻi in recent years.
Gov. Josh Green proposed new penalties designed to make it easier for police to enforce laws, including $300 tickets they could issue to those who shoot off fireworks. He's also proposed 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 smuggling of illegal fireworks.
Lawmakers were expected to consider these measures during the current legislative session ending in May.
