Crimestoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of people responsible for a string of arson brush fires in Anahola, including one Nov. 25 that scorched 200 acres. No one was injured in any of the
Crimestoppers is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of people responsible for a string of arson brush fires in Anahola, including one Nov. 25 that scorched 200 acres.
No one was injured in any of the fires, but investigations concluded arson was involved in all cases. The Nov. 25 fire was set during extremely dry weather conditions.
Kaua’i County Fire Department officials said all the fires posed a danger to many residential neighborhoods.
“When several engine companies are taken out of their home districts to suppress fires in Anahola, large areas of the island are left without adequate or timely fire, rescue and emergency medical protection,” said battalion chief Bob Kaden.
Brush fires move quickly, and elderly and young persons are at risk when fires and smoke threaten homes, Kaden said.
When the Nov. 25 fire raged, six homes on Kealia Road were evacuated and other homes on Kewalo and Kalalea roads were put on standby by for possible evacuation.
Firefighters fought the blaze and left the area when it appeared the fire was put out. But it flared up the next morning before it was quickly extinguished by firefighters using a county water truck and water drops by an emergency helicopter.
Anyone with information about the fires is urged by authorities to contact Crimestoppers at 241-6787, county police Lt. Alvin Seto at 241-6711 or the fire department at 241-6511.
Crimestoppers is a program of the county police and Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce.
In an unrelated development, the Fire Department reported Friday that a fire that gutted a house Thursday on Lauone Street in Wailua Homesteads Dec. 7 caused $210,000 in damage.
A 45-year-old man and his 2-year-old son, in the house when the fire started, were not injured.
Preliminary investigations indicate the fire started in or near the curtains of one of the rooms in the home.
Staff writer Lester Chang can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and mailto:lchang@pulitzer.net
