By The Associated Press’s Audrey McAvoy
AP’s HONOLULU The fourth person to die from injuries sustained in a New Year’s Eve fireworks explosion at a Honolulu residence was a 3-year-old kid who passed away on Monday. Six other people, according to a doctor, had to endure lengthy recuperations in Arizona after receiving treatment for severe burns.
In addition, the explosion left over 20 people injured, many of whom had burns over the majority of their bodies, and three women dead.
Cassius Ramos-Benigno was the toddler’s name as determined by the Honolulu medical examiner. There was no indication of the reason or method of death.
Following the tragedy, Hawaii’s government stepped up enforcement and stiffened punishments in their frequently stated calls to combat the state’s massive illicit fireworks trade.
Because Hawaii’s only burn center isn’t equipped to treat everyone, the U.S. military flew six injured people to Phoenix on Saturday for treatment.
During an online news conference, Dr. Kevin Foster, director of the Arizona Burn Center, stated that all of them were in their 20s or 30s and had severe burns.
The individual with the greatest burns has burned almost 80% of their body, while the person with the least has burned over 45%. Five of them are in medically induced comas, and all six are on breathing tubes.
According to Foster, their vital signs are good and they are all doing extremely well. However, according to Foster, it will take six months to a year before anyone can resume a life that is even remotely normal. According to him, four patients will probably need to stay intubated and in a coma for weeks.
Because of the explosions and projectiles that resulted, he said, many people needed emergency surgery before departing Hawaii, and others also had severe injuries in addition to burns.
Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025, Honolulu, fireworks debris outside the house where a New Year’s Eve fireworks explosion killed and injured others. (Photo by Marco Garcia for AP)
Straub Benioff Medical Center in Honolulu is currently caring for nine patients after one of them was sent to Arizona. The hospital admitted ten patients from the explosion, more than from any other single mass casualty incident, including the Maui wildfires in 2023.
At least once every twelve hours, specially trained nurses in the hospital’s burn section change the wound dressings. They need roughly half an hour to change the dressings on a patient with a typical wound. However, a team of at least four individuals would need to work for a few hours to treat some of the victims of the New Year’s explosion due to their severe burns.
According to Amy Chong, the hospital’s burn care unit supervisor, “we’re doing dressing changes around the clock and we definitely need to recruit extra staff just to support that.”
Although professional-grade aerial explosives are forbidden for amateurs, their use has been increasing in recent years. Hawaii’s varied population has historically celebrated New Year’s with fireworks. Residents of Oahu light up their neighborhoods for hours on end by launching aerial pyrotechnics into the sky from the little roadways in front of their houses.
A bundle of aerial fireworks was lighted by a partygoer, according to Honolulu authorities, and it fell on its side, launching explosives into two crates that held more aerials. A quick succession of explosions can be seen in the video of the ensuing explosion, launching fireworks into the air and around a house.
Different counties in Hawaii have different regulations regarding other kinds of fireworks. Only specified kinds of firecrackers are permitted to be used on New Year’s Eve, Chinese New Year, and Fourth of July during specific times on Oahu, the most populated island in the state. Nonetheless, a lot of locals light fireworks all year long.
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