70 firefighters called
to brush fire

The Nanakuli blaze came near
nine homes before being contained

About 70 city and federal firefighters battled a brush fire that scorched about 150 acres of brush in Nanakuli yesterday.

It was the first significant brush fire this year, said fire Capt. Emmit Kane.

The fire started at 12:29 p.m. near the 89-600 block of Mokiawe Street and was contained at 6:36 p.m., Kane said. The cause was not determined. Firefighters may return to the scene this morning to check on the fire.

Kane said the blaze came to the rear of about nine homes on the mauka side of Mokiawe Street.

Firefighters deployed hoses between and behind the homes to extinguish the blaze.

A drainage ditch to a number of homes on Mokiawe Street also served as a fire break, he said, adding that no homes were threatened. Most of the smoke was blown toward the valley, away from the homes.

He said 15 engines, three tankers and the Air One helicopter responded to the brush fire.

City firefighters received assistance from two federal engines and one of their tankers to ensure the fire did not spread. Later in the afternoon, two helicopters, one from the military and the other from the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Forestry and Wildlife Division, assisted in dropping water in the ravine.

"They were very effective in getting to the stubborn area in the back of the valley," Kane said.

Principal Wendy Takahashi of Nanakuli Elementary School said a few children were picked up early by their parents yesterday because the children were worried the fire was going to affect their houses.

"There were some kindergartners who were very upset," Takahashi said.

A day earlier, a small brush fire led staff members at Nanakuli Elementary to evacuate children who suffer from asthma to another room due to smoke blowing toward the school. Some employees who suffer from asthma left work early, she said.

An employee at Nanakuli High and Intermediate School said they evacuated one of their buildings during Monday's brush fire.