A Civil Beat investigation this year documented a web of connections between a mainland fireworks business and a 2022 shipment of $2.7 million worth of illegal pyrotechnics discovered inside a Matson container at Honolulu Harbor.
But that won’t stop Pacific Fireworks from selling firecrackers at outlets on Oʻahu, Maui and perhaps on the other islands leading up to the New Year, as it has for more than two decades.
The Honolulu Fire Department says it granted a retail sales license to the company after talking to the state Department of Law Enforcement, which operates an illegal fireworks task force in the aftermath of an explosion that killed six and seriously injured several others last New Year’s…