BARRY MARKOWITZ / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Firefighter Andy Smith pulled the hose to a burning power pole mauka of the Haleiwa bypass road about 2:30 p.m. yesterday.
A Haleiwa brush fire, one of 11
on Oahu since Monday, causes
a power outage that forces
some stores to close
A brush fire cut off traffic and power into Haleiwa yesterday and caused some store and homeowners to evacuate.
The fire started at about 12:32 p.m. on the mauka side of the Haleiwa bypass road, (Joseph P. Leong Highway), then jumped the highway and came to within about 50 feet of homes and stores near the North Shore Marketplace. Wahiawa police said they advised store owners to evacuate.
Some did.
"I was one of the first to pack up my merchandise," Byron Cooper said.
BARRY MARKOWITZ / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-BULLETIN
Firefighters battled a brush fire behind the North Shore Marketplace in Haleiwa yesterday afternoon. The fire caused a power outage, closing some Haleiwa shops and restaurants.
"Everyone else was still outside watching the fire."
Cooper, who owns Britton Gallery, Polynesian Treasures and Aloha General Store, said he rushed to pack up irreplaceable art pieces from his gallery as the fire came closer to the marketplace.
He and his wife packed two truckloads of wooden sculptures, carvings and jewelry from their gallery as well as important files and records from their home, which is on the side of the marketplace.
The worst thing about this fire, according to Cooper, is "we lost a day of business."
The North Shore brush fire was one of 11 on Oahu since Monday, 10 of which took place in Leeward Oahu. Fire officials said the Haleiwa fire was the biggest in terms of manpower and acreage burned.
KITV
An aerial view of the Haleiwa brush fire.
Around 40 firefighters battled the fire for 1 1/2 hours until it was contained, according to fire Capt. Kenison Tejada. A cane-haul road helped prevent the fire from reaching homes and businesses.
"Roads are always a natural firebreak," Tejada said.
The fire burned 30 acres of brush, but did not cause any injuries or damage to homes or businesses. However, the flames did cause a power outage.
"The problem was that the fire burned down one of our utility poles that was carrying a 46,000-volt line," said Hawaiian Electric Co. spokesman Fred Kobashikawa.
"There were a total of 3,700 customers out of power in the Waialua and Haleiwa area," he said.
Two other HECO utility poles were also damaged by the fire, as well as several other poles belonging to Pacific Electro-Mechanical Inc., a private electrical contractor.
HECO officials said power went out about 1:20 p.m. and was restored about 3:47 p.m.
"No power, so we're done for the day," said Gallery Director Jonathan Brookfield of Wyland Galleries of Haleiwa. "The last time power got cut, it took them all day to fix it."
KITV
The brush fire stopped just short of homes and businesses.
Matsumoto Shave Ice was one business that did stay open because it had its own generator.
"Even though the roads were closed they were parking outside the barriers and walking in," said store clerk Nolan Ballesteros. "It's been a really busy day, we had a pretty big line going out the door ... it seemed like everybody was retreating in here for something cool."
Police closed the bypass road and Kamehameha Highway in both directions at 1:25 p.m. and reopened them at about 3:35 p.m.
Meechelle Potts, visiting from Livermore, Calif., spent an hour driving around with her family looking for a place to eat.
"We're starving!" she exclaimed.
"We wanted to see the North Shore. But so far we've been driving around for an hour looking for a place to get lunch." Overall the Potts' vacation has been a good one, despite the fire.
Firefighters were also busy on Leeward Oahu fighting 10 brush fires during a 32 hour period starting just before 8:30 a.m. Monday and ending a little after 4 p.m. yesterday.
The first brush fire Monday was spotted near the corner of St. John's Road and Kulaaupuni Street in Maili, at 8:26 a.m. The last fire was reported at 4:09 p.m. along Ala Hema Street in Waianae yesterday.
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
A brush fire on the hillside near Tracks Beach in Nanakuli snarled highway traffic back to the Kalaeloa overpass.
"A lot of the fires were small and companies handled them within 10 to 15 minutes," said HFD spokesman Scott Lawton. "Others lasted an hour to an hour-and-a-half."
Lawton said the cause of the fires are undetermined.
Star-Bulletin reporters Rod Antone and Nelson Daranciang contributed to this report.
