Unattended candles caused 2 building fires

Fire investigators have determined that two fires Tuesday were caused by unattended candles.

A 7:31 a.m. fire at a vegetable farm off Kunia Road gutted a metal structure used to store farm equipment and personal property.

Fire investigators found that a candle had been accidentally left lit inside the structure. The fire was brought under control at 7:41 a.m.

Damage was estimated at $20,000 to the structure and $5,000 to its contents.

Firefighters kept a fire at a Kailua house Tuesday morning confined to an enclosed patio converted into a bedroom.

Firefighters responded to the 9:40 a.m. alarm at 1223 Ulunahele St. near Kailua High School and had the blaze under control by 10:06 a.m.

Three adults and a child were home at the time of the blaze. All managed to escape without injury, but paramedics were summoned to check the occupants.

Damage was estimated at $10,000 to the structure and $1,000 to its contents.

Firefighters re-contain blaze in Big Isle brush

Big Island firefighters continued to fight a persistent brush fire that has blackened more than 1,000 acres in the mauka Kealakekua area of Kona and caused dangerous levels of smoke for Kona residents.

Brush fires have plagued the area since mid-December.

Firefighters were able to re-contain the fire yesterday afternoon, re-establish the fire break and secure a perimeter around it.

Fire Chief Darryl Oliveira reported that the fire had jumped the fire break early Monday morning, resulting in more active burning and an increase in smoke over the past two days.

The blaze, at about the 4,000-foot level, is located on Kamehameha Schools property 7 miles above the Kealakekua Ranch Center. It is burning “;in heavy brush under a forest canopy,”; Oliveira described.

Five bulldozers, three helicopters, a 4,000-gallon water tanker, a brush truck, and numerous fire, ranch and landowner personnel were working to bring the fire under control.