Cleanup begins as Aliamanu neighborhood struggles with deadly fireworks blast

ALIAMANU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The yellow tape that had surrounded the scene of the deadly fireworks blast at Keaka Drive was taken down Wednesday afternoon.

Neighbors and friends got to get a firsthand look, in daylight, at the scene and to start the process of cleaning up the rubble.

But there’s also damage — both physical and psychological — in the neighborhood.

“Nice boom,” said Roscoe Kalilikane, who lives a few houses down from where the explosions occurred. “I thought it was 12 o’clock. I thought it was the grand finale. But it was the worst finale that ever happened at the end.”

Kalilikane and several other Keaka Drive residents spent most of the afternoon clearing the garage of the debris that the explosions left behind.

“I’m just here to help out how we can,” said neighbor Jack Kaauwai. “The neighborhood all sticks together, yeah? Everybody’s here to help.”

Kaauwai lives a few houses down, and was one of the people who called 911.

“A lot of people were just yelling and screaming. They were in pain. I’ve seen kids, elementary kids and teenagers. The bigger guy was helping people load them into the gurney and stuff,” he said.

Kaauwai says two of the victims were mothers in their 50s who took the bus every day to work.

“I just knew them from the neighborhood. Nice people. I actually knew their kids more than I knew them,” he said.

Among the debris were PVC pipes that are used to launch aerials.

The explosions in the garage ripped through everything, splintering wood, shattering virtually every glass window and door of the home.

Broken glass is everywhere.

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Nelson Parungao’s car was one of several damaged in the explosions.

“Damage the windshield, the headlights and then the side mirror, and then also the mirror inside,” said Parungao.

He added that he and his family hid in the back of their house as the explosions happened on the other side of the street, blasting out the glass windows of at least two other homes.

Kala’i Kalilikane was there moments after the blasts.

“Another boy was laying out on the side over there, asking me for help. I don’t know who he was. He didn’t pass away, supposedly. I looked to my right, had another auntie laying under all the stuff,” he said.

Debris was gathered, put into plastic bags, and hauled away in vans and trucks.

One of the residents of the second floor of the home, his hand still bandaged, arrived and was hugged by neighbors, but he avoided reporters as he went inside to survey what was left.

Those neighbors are struggling to make sense of how the night of celebration became so deadly.

“This is what we look forward to, you know what I mean?” said Kalilikane. “When something like this happens, it’s unexpected. We’re not over here making bombs like everybody’s thinking and stuff like that.”

“I grew up loving fireworks. I’ve done my share. But I’m not even worried about fireworks right now. I’m just worried about helping the family go through this time, grief,” said Kaauwai.

“It’s just a bad thing. Nobody wanted this,” said Kaauwai.

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