Bang-up birthday fires up residents

It was intended as a surprise for his mother’s 80th birthday. It was certainly a surprise for the neighbours, who called police in droves to report a series of explosions.

Police warned some Waikanae residents to stay indoors on Sunday night while they investigated reports of several explosions.

Officers tracked the blasts to Rata St – a normally quiet cul-de-sac in the Kapiti Coast town – where they found a man ‘‘using commercial-grade fireworks’’.

He said yesterday that the two fireworks he let off were ‘‘the final surprise’’ of ‘‘a surprise birthday party for my mother’’.

Neighbour Marilyn MacDonald said the explosions were huge and so loud they shook the floor in her lounge.

She said she was in London during the 2005 bombings that claimed 56 lives, and at first she thought a bomb had gone off in Waikanae. ‘‘We’re a bit sensitive about explosions.’’

When she spoke to other residents, she was told the blasts were to celebrate her neighbour’s 80th birthday.

‘‘It was bloody noisy ... it was just huge, thunderous.’’

Another neighbour said the fireworks appeared to have been detonated from the grass outside the 80-year-old’s home.

The explosions triggered a swarm of comments on local Facebook groups, with people up 10 kilometres away in Te Horo hearing the blasts.

The man who let off the fireworks, would not give his name, comment on police reports that they were commercial grade, nor say whether he had met the requirements to let off commercial-grade fireworks.

Neither would he confirm whether he had spoken to police.

Senior Sergeant Chanel Chapman, the Kapiti area response manager, said police were ‘‘working with the man involved’’. They received 17 calls in 15 minutes from 9.30pm on Sunday, reporting loud explosions.

‘‘Due to the nature of the explosions’’, residents were advised to remain inside till police found the cause.

Inquiries were continuing, and it was not yet known whether there would be charges, she said.

A spokesman for WorkSafe, which administers requirements for pyrotechnics, said the organisation had been made aware of the incident by police.

‘‘We are currently making some initial inquiries. If these lead to a discovery of a breach in the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act, the maximum penalties are three months’ imprisonment or a maximum fine of $500,000.’’

Kapiti Coast District Council regulatory services manager Kevin Currie said commercial fireworks should be let off only by an approved person under controlled conditions, and as part of an overall management plan that addressed safety hazards.