“It’s a total loss,” said Pratt on Friday in a phone interview from North Carolina, where he is working. His roommates in Kihei told him about the fire, which occurred around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Apparently, someone opened the back door of the vehicle, parked at his South Alaniu Place residence, and ignited a “fountain cone” firework, which melted everything inside the 1990 vehicle, which was still in “good shape” despite its age, Pratt said.

The steering wheel was melted; the wiring system damaged and the interior burnt.

“It wasn’t an accident. It was arson,” he said.

-- Photo courtesy of Terry Pratt

He said he put $10,000 into the vehicle, which has sentimental value. He said that his $1,000 reward is on top of what Maui Crime Stoppers might provide.

Things could have been worse, Pratt said. The truck fire could have ignited a bamboo fence nearby and threatened neighboring homes.

Pratt’s case is one of several high profile fireworks incidents on New Year’s Day and Eve.

A 30-year-old man was severely injured when an unknown type of firework exploded in his face and knocked him unconscious in front of a Niheu Street residence in Lahaina around 12:06 a.m. Wednesday. The man, who had severe trauma to the left side of his face and burns to his head, neck and chest, was taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition. A hospital official Friday could not release his condition due to privacy issues.

Honolulu TV stations reported New Year’s Day that aerial fireworks shot through a vehicle driven by a 30-year-old man as he was driving on Puunene Avenue near Dairy Road in Kahului a little after midnight.

-- Photo courtesy of Terry Pratt

Two days after the incident, Adam Cio, 30, of Waiehu, does not think the object that flew into his vehicle was aerial fireworks. In an interview with The Maui News on Friday evening, Cio said he now thinks it was a bullet, which may have gone through his passenger side window then out of the driver’s side extended cab window.

He said there were no burn marks in his 2005 Toyota Tundra, but there was a hole in one of his headrests and lots of glass.

“In the beginning, I thought it was fireworks, even when the cops came to my house that night, I thought it was fireworks,” Cio said. He said fireworks were booming all over in Kahului when his truck was hit while he was driving home from work.

His neighbor, who examined the truck New Year’s Day, thought it was a bullet, not fireworks. Still, Cio does think the incident was related to New Year’s celebrations.

He said he saw a flash, then “I heard a boom.”

Adam Cio, 30, of Waiehu suffered injuries from broken glass and fragments from what he initially thought was fireworks, but now thinks may be a bullet that went through his truck windows early New Year’s morning. -- Photo courtesy of Adam Cio

Cio said he was speaking to a friend on a hands-free device and shouted that he was bleeding. His landlord, who is a paramedic, helped treat Cio, who was checked by a doctor the next day. He was recovering Friday from being hit by glass shards in his back, arms and face.

He went back to work as a server at Tommy Bahama in Wailea on New Year’s Day.

“I’m a lot better now than I was the first day. It’s definitely healing . . . (but) I have all these holes in my arm,” he said.

Cio said he spent hours with police Thursday. They examined his truck and retraced his path on Puunene Avenue looking for clues.

Cio said he is sharing his story in hopes this doesn’t happen to anyone else. “That’s all I want, just people to be responsible.”

There is a hole is in a headrest of Adam Cio’s truck that may have been hit with a projectile on New Year’s Day. -- Photo courtesy of Adam Cio

He is thankful, aware that the incident could have been a lot worse. “I am blessed,” Cio said.

Illegal aerial fireworks have many in the community concerned. A community meeting was held to discuss possible remedies last year; police reported confiscating illegal fireworks in the mail; and new laws were enacted making property owners or renters responsible if aerials are set off from their residences.

Those efforts apparently did little to dent the illegal aerial fireworks celebrations. Comments on social media indicated that the aerials seem to have gotten worse.

Maui County Fire Chief David Thyne couldn’t say if this year’s New Year’s fireworks celebrations were worse than past ones. But they do pose a fire and safety hazard, he said.

In 2019, fire crews responded to 12 fire-related calls in a 24-hour hour period from New Year’s Eve to New Years’ Day, four of which were directly attributed to either fireworks use or the disposal of fireworks that were still smoldering, fire officials said last year.

This year, in a 12-hour period, from 6 p.m. Tuesday, New Year’s Eve, to 6 a.m. Wednesday, New Year’s Day, there were at least 11 fire-related calls, which included the Toyota Land Cruiser fire and the Lahaina fireworks injury. There also were seven trash bin fires, with two confirmed to have fireworks remnants.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Maui police reported 145 calls related to fireworks violations, 68 documented cases of fireworks violations, 14 citations issued for fireworks violations, six fire reports, five documented fires, two arson investigations and one miscellaneous accident.

Acting Lt. John Sang said Friday that the 14 citations issued for fireworks violations are summons to appear in court to answer to the charges.

This past holiday season, a new state law kicked in which establishes criminal liability for “a homeowner, renter or person responsible for real property who intentionally, knowingly or recklessly allows someone to possess, set off, ignite or otherwise cause to explode any aerial device.”

Criminal penalties can constitute a Class C felony, a misdemeanor or a fine of $500 to $2,000. When making arrests, the new law allows officers to determine probable cause through witness statements, photographs, video or other recordings that can be authenticated by one or more witnesses, with the exception of drone shots.

A call to county Prosecutor Don Guzman on Friday to discuss the next steps for the documented cases of fireworks violations was not returned.

“All fireworks have shown to pose dangers,” the fire chief said in an email. “There have been severe injuries reported in the past involving the use of fireworks. Aerial fireworks add an increased hazard because they create a fire and shrapnel hazard anywhere within their flight range.”

He said that because of the hazards that fireworks pose to the general public, the State Fire Council, which includes fire chiefs from all the state’s fire departments, is backing a bill to limit the use of consumer fireworks for cultural purposes only.

He added that the Fire Department recognizes and respects cultural celebrations that incorporate fireworks.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.