Donald Pascual started out working with high explosives on the Big Island at a young age but found the work labor intensive and short on fun. His license for high explosives could also be used for fireworks, so in the 1980s, he reached out to John Tsutsumi, then owner of Hawaii Fireworks on Oahu, who brought him aboard and taught him the trade.
Seven years later, in 1991, Pascual purchased the business and its equipment from Tsutsumi, who was looking to retire. He renamed it Hawaii Explosives and…
