FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Firefighter Jon Omori put out hot spots from a brush fire in Maili yesterday. The fire came within 20 feet of the houses along Kulawae Street in the background.
Fast-moving fire
threatens Maili homesThe blaze comes within 20 feet
of several houses before being
brought under control
When Joanne Harris saw a brush fire on the other side of her backyard fence in Maili, she got her dog and cat out of the house.
She then rescued two dogs next door, where the fence and palms were singed from the blaze that burned on the other side of the fence.
Neighbor Joe Reveira, 48, ran over and hosed down Harris' backyard fence and shrubbery.
The wind-whipped brush fire moved quickly across a vacant 40-acre field near Kaukama Road yesterday, coming within 20 feet of several houses and burning a small section of one roof before firefighters were able to bring it under control. A total of 20 fire companies battled the fire, including the Fire Department helicopter.
Fire officials said the fire began at about 11:25 a.m. and was under control by about 12:45 p.m., but hot spots continued to burn for several hours.
The fire burned just west of the Maili Kai and Pualani by the Sea subdivisions off Kaukama Road and mauka of some older homes closer to Farrington Highway. A sign on a gate identified the area as U.S. property.
Harris first saw the fire start at the other side of the field of kiawe trees and short grasses, but it moved quickly.
"I'm just glad I still have a house," she said.
Reveira said, "If one (house) caught on fire, it'd be a domino effect."
Harris said the fire got so close that "I told my mom, if I had a coat hanger and marshmallows, I could have made s'mores."
Fire Capt. Kenison Tejada said: "The wind and the short grass is a blessing and a curse at the same time.
"With the wind it pushes up a wall of fire" that "pushes through the area quickly and doesn't have a chance to ignite larger trees."
Tejada said the wind moved the fire makai, and firefighters prevented it from hitting homes in its path. But two small sections of a shake roof on a Mamoalii Way house burned.
Some of the homes have a hollow-tile wall with wooden fences atop them separating the back yard from the field.
But the Rogers family had not yet built a wall. Amber Rogers, her sister and father came home to the remnants of the fire just beyond their back yard.
"I was kind of shocked it was so close," said Rogers, 15. "It is kind of scary."
Her sister, Aurora Rogers, 8, stared out at the blackened ground, stubble of grass and trees -- once her playground -- and said, "Whoa!"
She pointed out the charred grave of her dog and what was once her fort.
Fatu Tailele, 74, said the fire had cleaned up the area, once used as a dumping ground for rubbish and tree trimmings before a gate was put up.
He was not worried about future fires -- "No more for burn already," he said.
Fire officials said the cause of the fire was unknown. On July 19 there were three fires within a mile of one another in Maili. The cause of those fires is also unknown.
