Kauai highway closes
because of 400-acre fire

The blaze was still burning yesterday
but was under control

WAILUA, Kauai » A brush fire that burned for at least 24 hours and forced the closure of Kauai's main highway and the evacuation of the Kauai Community Correctional Center was brought under control yesterday afternoon.

No injuries or damage to any structures were reported, officials said. Many of the prisoners at Kauai Community Correctional Center were taken to a Lihue church as the fire moved closer.

The fire was still burning yesterday after torching more than 400 acres of former sugar cane lands. Fire Chief Kauai Fire Chief Robert Westerman said the fire had been mostly contained by 5 p.m., but hot spots were flaring up and smoke could still be seen from miles away.

A large heiau just mauka of Kuhio Highway was surrounded by the flames, but it was not damaged, said James Alalem, a Kapaa resident who protects the heiau in the Wailua area.

"There are hot spots near the ridge that we're working on right now," Westerman said yesterday. "Air One is on the scene dumping buckets of water on these spots. We want to be sure that it doesn't go over the ridge where there's cattle."

As the fire spread onto state lands, the DLNR assumed command of the incident yesterday, with the other agencies helping out, officials said.

On Sunday, flames up to 100 feet in height could be seen from Kuhio Highway, drawing hundreds of onlookers who brought traffic to a halt on the main thoroughfare from Kapaa to Lihue.

Police closed the highway at around 8:40 p.m. that night, citing poor visibility and traffic congestion as reasons. They diverted traffic through Lydgate State Park and had the road opened by 1 a.m.

According to Kauai Fire Department officials, the fire started at around 5:30 p.m. Sunday, not far from Kuhio Highway and the Wailua River. The fire spread mauka and south.

Throughout the night, officials said, nearly three-fourths of the firefighters on shift were on the scene. Air One, a rescue helicopter contracted by Kauai County, also was at the scene, as well as firefighters from the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Forestry and Wildlife, and personnel from the Department of Public Works. By yesterday morning, firefighters and a helicopter from the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility responded to assist.

KCCC inmates were returned to the jail by 6 a.m. yesterday.

It is the first time in recent memory the jail has been evacuated, officials said.

County officials in the public information office could not say exactly how many prisoners were moved.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, officials said.