A cake firework set off blasts that ‘bombed’ a Hawaii home, officials say. What is it?
Explosions that killed three people and seriously hurt about two dozen more during a New Year’s house party in Hawaii appear to have been set off by an “aerial cake,” officials said.
The firework “fell to the side” after it was lit in a driveway and then shot into crates holding more fireworks, Honolulu Police Chief Joe Logan said during a news conference.
The incident left a scene one witness described as “a war zone,” Logan said.
So, what exactly is an aerial cake?
Richard Meier, a fire and explosion investigator with expertise in fireworks, said an aerial firework generally is lit on the ground and explodes in the air. And a “cake” is a firework with multiple launch tubes that are lit from a single fuse and chain-fused together so they go off sequentially, he told McClatchy News in a Jan. 2 phone call.
Cakes generally have about six to 25 launch tubes but can have 200 or more tubes, Meier said.
“They can get very elaborate and very expensive,” he said.
Aerial fireworks are popular because they can put on quite a show, said Meier, who’s based in Florida and isn’t involved in the Hawaii firework explosion investigation.
He’s personally seen devastating injuries from aerial fireworks. And if one “were to tip over and ignite a stockpile of fireworks, it can get exponentially worse,” he said.
In the Hawaii incident, which happened just after midnight on Jan. 1, two women died at the scene and another woman later died, officials said.
More than 20 adults and juveniles “are seriously and critically injured,” Logan said, adding that more people may have taken themselves in for medical treatment.
Officials emphasized the devastation during the news conference, with Hawaii Gov. Josh Green saying the house in the Salt Lake neighborhood of Honolulu was “bombed” and “there’s organic material from our loved ones on the windows of the buildings across the street and the cars.”
In Honolulu, aerial fireworks are illegal, and officials pledged during the conference to crackdown on the pipeline.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi called the incident “a painful reminder of the danger posed by illegal fireworks.”
Meier said fireworks are dangerous, even when they’re working properly and handled the right away. “Any time you’re dealing with an explosive device, it’s a dangerous device. If used unsafely, they’re far more dangerous,” he said.
This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 2:31 PM with the headline "A cake firework set off blasts that ‘bombed’ a Hawaii home, officials say. What is it?."
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