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Newswatch
Star-Bulletin staff and wire
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Soldier with Hawaii brigade killed in Iraq
The 12th member of a California unit assigned to Hawaii's 29th Brigade Combat Team was killed New Year's Eve, five days before he was supposed to leave Baghdad.
Spc. Marcelino R. Corniel, 23, of La Puente, Calif., was killed during a mortar attack on his observation post. He was the 17th member of the 29th Brigade to die in Iraq since it was sent there in February. The only island-born 29th Brigade combat death was Sgt. Deyson Cariaga. The 29th Brigade is slated to return to Hawaii in the middle of this month.
Editor's note: Please see the full story which ran yesterday in the Star-Bulletin Afternoon Edition.
Police, Fire, Courts
By Star-Bulletin staff
LEEWARD OAHU
Pearl City woman hospitalized in crash
A 46-year-old Pearl City woman was critically injured Monday night after the car she was driving went up an embankment and flipped over just before the H-2 merge in Pearl City.
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The single-car accident occurred on Kamehameha Highway, 332 feet east of the northbound H-2 freeway merge about 10:24 p.m.
Police said the driver, the sole occupant of a 1994 four-door Toyota Corolla, lost control of the car and ran off the left side of the roadway. The car then went up a dirt embankment, flipped over and ended up back on the roadway.
The woman was taken to the Queen's Medical Center in critical condition. Police said neither speed nor alcohol appear to be factors in the accident.
Crews battle fire in Makaha Valley
About 77 city and federal firefighters battled an unseasonable brush fire in Makaha Valley yesterday that destroyed more than 250 acres.
Last night, the fire front from the valley floor to the east-facing ridgeline was allowed to burn freely, said fire Capt. Emmit Kane. The fire was reported at 5 p.m. off Kili Drive in Makaha Valley.
The flames were driven by a strong onshore breeze in the mauka direction, Kane said.
The uppermost front was a mile makai from the Makaha Towers, but no structures were immediately threatened, Kane said.
As of 8:30 p.m. last night, the hard winds had died down and they had turned light and variable, Kane said.
Honolulu Fire Department's Air One was involved in two other rescues at the time the fire broke out.
The federal helicopters were ready to make water drops this morning.
Kane said the unseasonable dry weather, together with lots of dry brush and the strong winds, came together to fuel the fire.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Kauai brush fire forces road closures
HANAMAULU, Kauai » A brush fire that started around noon in a former cane field caused traffic backups for nearly ten miles on the Garden Isle yesterday.
The fire just north of Hanamaulu Bay and Lihue Airport, was buffeted by gusty winds and took six hours to be extinguished.
No injuries were reported and no structures were threatened, but the fire, adjacent to Kapule Highway, prompted the closure of one of the only two roads through Lihue.
Also, employees of the Kauai Fruit and Flower Co., located near the intersection of Kapule and Kuhio highways, were evacuated briefly, county officials said. All roads were re-opened at 3:30 p.m. According to Kauai Fire Chief Robert Westerman, the fire burned approximately 200 acres of brush.
County officials said traffic to and from Kapaa and the north shore had to be re-routed because of smoke. The road was reopened at about 3:30 p.m., county public information officer Mary Daubert said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Big Island home destroyed in fire
HILO » Fire destroyed a two-story house in Kapoho, 25 miles southeast of Hilo, at 12:50 a.m. yesterday, the Hawaii County Fire Department said. With no hydrants in the immediate area, water had to be shuttled about half a mile, the department said.
The value of the house, owned by Gary W. Young and occupied by Troy Peters, was put at $70,000. There were no injuries.
CORRECTION
Thursday, January 5, 2006
» A car accident on Kamehameha Highway near the H-2 merge occurred Monday. A brief on Page A4 yesterday incorrectly reported the accident was Tuesday night.
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