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Fires, injuries reported during New Year's festivities
Jan 01, 2010 (The Honolulu Advertiser - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Firefighters and emergency medical personnel responded to calls for fires and injuries as Hawaii rang in 2010 with the traditional explosion of fireworks.
On New Year's Eve, the Honolulu Fire Department responded to 41 reports of fires, at least 16 of which were probably fireworks-related, an HFD spokesman said.
From 12:01 a.m. to 8 a.m. today, HFD responded to 27 reports of fires, at least 14 of which were probably fireworks-related.
Altogether, there were at least 35 fireworks-related fires from Wednesday through this morning, compared to 24 last year and 57 in 2007.
Meanwhile, HFD said it responded to 215 medical calls over the three-day period this year and 27 other incidents.
There were no reports of serious injuries.
A large portion of the fires were brushfires or trash fires.
Honolulu EMS personnel were dispatched to at least two reports of fireworks-related injuries.
At 12:31 a.m., there was a call for a fireworks-related injury on Puloku Street in Waipahu.
At 12:34 a.m., two people were reported hurt by fireworks on Mailiili Road in Maili.
A year ago, the Honolulu Fire Department responded to 58 fire calls, 26 of which were fireworks related, with total damages of $10,000. In 2007, the department fielded 79 calls, 33 fire-related, for a loss of $83,500.
Satellite city halls reported sales of 8,055 firecracker permits this year, reversing a three-year decline. Last year, 6,924 permits were issued.
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