Police hunt for arsonist who set 3 fires on Maui

Maui police are looking for the person or persons who set three brush fires within a 45-minute period yesterday along Honoapiilani Highway near Lahaina.

“;It seems that each fire was intentionally set, and they all may be connected in some way,”; police Lt. Tim Gapero said.

At two of the three fires, incendiary devices were left behind, said acting fire Battalion Chief Derrick Arruda.

Gapero said the devices are somewhat complex and “;not one a kid would put together.”;

The first fire began at 10:38 a.m. in Olowalu, scorching a 50-by-50-foot area. The second fire, near the old Olowalu rubbish dump, was smaller than the first and was snuffed out by police throwing dirt on it.

The third, which began at 11:13 a.m., burned two acres at Puamana off Hokiokio Road.

SUV driver dies in crash after running a stop sign

A 25-year-old Lihue man died yesterday when his sport utility vehicle crashed into a big-rig truck in Eleele, Kauai police said.

Police said Patrick Powell was driving west on Halewili Road in a Nissan Pathfinder at about 10:40 a.m. when he ran a stop sign, turned left onto Kaumualii Highway and broadsided a Garden Isle Disposal tractor-trailer pulling a roll-off bin.

Police said the SUV spun and flipped, landing in a drainage ditch.

Two male passengers in Powell's SUV were not seriously injured, police said.

Police said speed and alcohol were believed to be factors in the crash.

This was the sixth traffic fatality this year on Kauai, compared with eight at the same time last year.