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3 Oahu blazes
stretch force
A brush fire threatens homes
on both sides of Waikele Stream
Dozens more firefighters respond
to blazes in Kunia and Salt Lake
A brush fire threatened homes on both sides of the Waikele Stream gulch, one of three afternoon blazes that kept firefighters scrambling yesterday.
Stiff winds blew a brush fire that began about 1 p.m. in the gulch that separates Village Park and Waikele.
About 60 Honolulu and federal firefighters fought the blaze and had it contained at 7 p.m. HFD's helicopter, Air One, swooped down low to make water drops.
As the firefighters were getting the Waikele blaze under control, another call came in at about 5:25 p.m. for a small brush fire nearby on the west side of Kunia Road near Kupuna Loop.
About 20 firefighters brought that blaze under control in an hour. It started from an auto fire, Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Emmit Kane said.
At 5:12 p.m., firefighters were called to a two-alarm blaze at a Salt Lake apartment building. The fire, in unit 701 at 2977 Ala Ilima St., left a Salt Lake couple and their adult son homeless.
The fire damaged their three-bedroom apartment, and while heat and smoke damage made a unit above uninhabitable, Kane said. About 35 firefighters brought it under control in 21 minutes.
But the biggest effort went into the Waikele Stream blaze.
The fire came dangerously close to a few homes on Kaaholo Street in Village Park. It scorched about three-quarters of one man's back lawn, coming within 10 feet of his lanai.
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The fire made its way up the side of the gulch, jumped an old military access road, burned vegetation along a cement block wall that lined back yards and set the lawn on fire. The fire consumed about 70 acres.
Occupants of between 12 to 18 houses along Kaaholo Street in Village Park evacuated their homes on their own.
On the other side of the gulch, several Waikele residents who live in the Celebrations subdivision grabbed their garden hoses to spray water over brush, trees and plants behind their fences.
Winds swirled in the gulch as firefighters battled the blaze. Black ash peppered the air as winds changed direction.
"I can handle the smoke. I'm just worried about the flames coming up," said Julie Castillo of 94-1034 Kanawao St. as she watered down ti leaf plants behind her fence.
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A few home away, resident Ken Sakuoka and his co-worker, Jordan Deveraturda, helped water down brush behind Sakuoka's neighbor's fence.
"I'm a little concerned," he said. "Hopefully the wind doesn't bring it back over here. ... We're just doing all we can."
Some residents said a small fire that originated near the Makakilo-side of the gulch quickly spread. The blaze also engulfed an abandoned truck in the middle of the gulch.
Sakuoka's wife, Laura, said she heard loud crackling sounds as trees and brush were consumed by the blaze.
"This is the worst brush fire we've had since we moved here," said Laura, who moved to Waikele with her family four years ago.
Thick smoke also permeated the Village Park neighborhood as black ash fell like snow over the homes. Those who remained in their houses shut their windows and turned on air conditioning.
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"When the smoke started getting thick, then I started getting scared," said Aster Dolor, 21, who was with her boyfriend, and sons, 9 months and 2 years.
Many residents rushed home from work to protect their property, and tended to their families and pets.
One Kaaholo Street resident returned home to find her backyard papaya, mango, marungay and banana trees shriveled and some of the fruit cooked from the intense heat. The family had just completed a patio roof that extended to the back of the property, mere inches from the burned trees.
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