FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Kamehameha Highway to the North Shore was closed yesterday due to a fire. Traffic was rerouted to Kaukonahua Road, and was bumper to bumper to the junction of Wilikina Drive.
Central Oahu sees
fire and rainAn unusual sight of a
tornado accompanies the nasty
weather that forces road closures
Fire and rain affected traffic from Haleiwa to Halawa yesterday.
A sudden, heavy downpour in Central Oahu prompted flash flood warnings, traffic advisories and even a tornado sighting.
And a brush fire near Haleiwa closed Kamehameha Highway for more than four hours.
Police closed the highway at two places at about 12:30 p.m. between Helemano and Weed Circle at the entrance to Haleiwa -- a stretch of about four or five miles -- because of the smoke and fire equipment along the highway.
The road was reopened at about 4:45 p.m., according to Wahiawa police.
Meanwhile, flash flood warnings were issued for Wahiawa and other parts of Central Oahu.
A trained weather spotter reported a tornado touching down on Koolau mountain range, upslope from Mililani, about 3:05 p.m., said Bob Farrell, National Weather Service lead forecaster.
"It was heading toward Pearl City, but I don't believe it got there," he said. "We had no other reports."
Police alerted drivers to use caution on the H-1 Freeway between Pearl City and Kunia because of zero visibility and heavy ponding, creating hydroplane conditions.
The storm dumped two to three inches of rain in the area between 1 and 3 p.m., Farrell said.
He said a weather system moving over the islands probably set off heavy showers on Kauai and Central Oahu, prompting flash flood warnings. It caused a sudden uplift and possibly spawned the tornado, he said.
But the deluge missed the grass fire near Haleiwa by about three-fourths of a mile, said Capt. Kenison Tejada, Fire Department spokesman.
It was storming when he went through Wahiawa after leaving the fire scene, but it had stopped at Dole Plantation, he said.
Weena Takemoto got caught in the traffic because of the highway closure about 12:30 p.m., but missed the downpour.
Takemoto, her husband Dean, and their five children were returning to their Haleiwa home from Kapiolani Medical Center at Pali Momi. Their 7-year-old son had to have a broken leg recasted, she said.
"We had gone all the way to Helemano and they were diverting traffic and we had to turn all the way back to a road (Kaukonahua) that crosses back roads to Haleiwa," she said.
"It was not so much fun," she said. As they drove into Haleiwa, she said they saw a lot of people headed for Wahiawa who "looked very tired and (wondered) 'What is going on?'" The traffic was much worse going in that direction, she said.
Tejada said about 50 acres were damaged by the fire, which spread quickly through former cane fields with tall grass between the highway and Opaeula Valley. No homes or crops were threatened, he said.
"Our biggest concern was that it would reach the valley, which it has, and it's starting to creep down along the sides of the walls of the valley," he said about mid-afternoon.
"It's pretty steep right now, so crews are working pretty much on the valley-side perimeter of the fire."
Tejada said the fire was about half a mile in from Kamehameha Highway, which was acting as a fire stop on one side. The valley on the Sunset Beach side of the brush was on the other side, he said.
He said about 45 firefighters were trying to stop the fire before it extended into the dry valley, where there are no access roads.
The firefighters expected to work into the evening but planned to come out of the area before dark, Tejada said, explaining it would be dangerous for them to be on the steep hill in the dark.
He said the 10 firefighting units included seven engines and three tankers and a helicopter.
