|
Nanakuli fire
strains resources
A federal grant is now available
for a blaze that has charred
nearly 3,000 acres since Sunday
Oahu's worst brush fire of the season has pushed the Honolulu Fire Department to the limit, taxing its resources and draining firefighters battling the flames in difficult terrain since Sunday.
By 8 p.m. yesterday, the fire was called 75 percent contained, but some areas continued to burn. The fire department posted a fire watch overnight in Nanakuli and the federal fire department posted one above Makakilo on Palehua Ridge.
The stubborn fire has threatened homes, closed roads, forced residents from their homes, smoked many of them out of the area and has threatened communication towers and military installations.
And it has been so large that it now qualifies for a federal grant that will allow local authorities to recoup up to 75 percent of the massive cost of fighting it.
FEMA's threshold of $100,000, the figure at which local jurisdictions qualify for assistance, has been surpassed in the Nanakuli fire. And so has the $500,000 threshold for the state, said Ed Texeira, vice director of Hawaii State Civil Defense.
"The beauty is once you get that threshold, you can let go, commit more resources to prevent more fires," he said.
Texeira and Honolulu Fire Department Chief Attilio Leonardi said they do not have any firefighting cost estimates yet.
About 700 fires have already burned on Oahu during what is known as the fire season, which began in April this year. Most fires have been on the Waianae Coast.
Leonardi said the Nanakuli fire has taxed the fire department's resources, forcing firefighters to return day after day to work in difficult terrain.
The department has employed 40 percent of its resources within the last 24 hours, Leonardi said.
HFD also has received aid from the military, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Nature Conservancy. Helicopters from several jurisdictions have fought the blaze.
Leonardi praised the assistance of federal firefighters and military personnel who have helped.
Capt. Emmit Kane said that yesterday's "fresh burns" included the Palehua Ridge area down to Farrington Highway. Until about 11:30 a.m., the fire continued to grow, but it had stopped expanding by 1 p.m., Kane said.
About 55 city firefighters and 20 to 25 federal firefighters fought the fires yesterday. Grace Pacific and Goodfellow Brothers also donated the use of their tankers.
Governor Linda Lingle and Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann surveyed the burned areas from a helicopter. Both held press conferences at the fire command post in Honokai Hale.
Lingle thanked the fire chief and said the flyover allowed her to see not only how close the fire got to homes, but also how close it got to Hawaiian Electric Co.'s Kahe Power Plant, with its diesel fuel storage tanks.
The fire department was not as concerned about the power plant because it's well-protected from brush fires, and diesel fuel requires prolonged high heat to ignite, Kane said.
Still, "this was the one that could have gotten out of hand," Hannemann said after surveying the area.
The Nanakuli fire began Sunday, possibly due to arcing from a utility pole a few hundred yards below the top of Palehua Ridge.
The fire once again raised the need for another way to get in and out of the Waianae Coast. Hannemann pledged to work for a proposed bypass road, which may require condemnation of private lands.
State Transportation Director Rod Haraga concurred that the state will have to look for evacuation routes. The military allowed the public to use Kolekole Pass, which remained open until 6 p.m. yesterday.
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