LIHU‘E — Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste said Tuesday a fire at the Lihu‘e transfer station last week gives reason for government agencies to learn how to respond better to multiple emergencies. The fire scorched 60 acres of brush, created what
LIHU‘E — Mayor Bryan J. Baptiste said Tuesday a fire at the Lihu‘e transfer station last week gives reason for government agencies to learn how to respond better to multiple emergencies.
The fire scorched 60 acres of brush, created what was believed to be toxic smoke which billowed over parts of Lihu‘e, resulted in the crash of a helicopter that was assisting with firefighting efforts, and tied up traffic around Lihu‘e town for a time even after the blaze was put out in the afternoon.
The incident was unusual because it involved three emergencies occurring simultaneously, Baptiste told the media at a meeting at his office at the Lihu‘e Civic Center.
“It was like having three (emergency-response ) exercises going on at once,” he said. “There was a chemical fire, a brush fire and a helicopter crash.”
The chemical fire created some tense moments for all, Baptiste indicated. “We never went through a chemical type of fire, which brought out its own set of problems,” Baptiste said.
Kaua‘i County has plans that can be executed successfully to cope with any one emergency, including hurricanes and tsunamis, at any one time, Baptiste said.
But taking on three emergencies all at once put government emergency-response agencies against the wall that day, Baptiste indicated.
Baptiste said while he is satisfied with the overall response by government agencies to the fire, “there is room for improvement, as with everything.”
Some decisions on how to respond to the three emergencies in the best way were delayed because the chain-of-command was divided up between the fire site and the Emergency Operations Center, Baptiste said.
The EOC was activated because of concerns about the possibility the burning debris — refrigerators, stoves and washers stored temporarily at the Lihu‘e transfer station — might have generated toxic fumes.
Kaua‘i County officials could not determine whether the fire generated toxic fumes because they didn’t have equipment to measure it.
However, no command was issued to have people evacuated from homes that are located downwind from the smoke, according to Cyndi Mei Ozaki, the county’s public information officer.
“There never was an evacuation,” she said.
Instead, people were told they could stay in their homes if they could seal them up from the smoke and had operating air-conditioning units, or to leave their homes if they couldn’t properly seal their homes and didn’t have an air conditioner to use, Baptiste said.
Agencies were to go through a debriefing, or a “hot wash,” next week to review the emergency response to the fire, Baptiste said.
These agencies include the Kaua‘i Police Department, the state Department of Education, the state Department of Heath and the state Department of Transportation Airports Division, Baptiste said.
Representatives from Wilcox Memorial Hospital also have been invited to attend the meeting, Baptiste said.
Ozaki said people wanting information about government responses to emergencies can contact KQNG radio, which receives information from the Kaua‘i Civil Defense agency and disseminates it to the public.
The July 15 fire broke out at 11: 30 a.m., mauka of the Lihu‘e transfer station, apparently when refrigerators, washing machines and stoves and scrap metal kept at the facility spontaneously combusted, a county official said.
An Inter-Island Helicopters (“Air-1” when performing government-related work) craft crashed on the edge of a cane field near Hanama‘ulu Bay while making water drops.
The copter crashed when one of its blades struck a tree. The pilot, Gary Hall, walked away from the crash site, Ozaki had reported.
The fire spread mauka toward the intersection of Kapule Highway and Ahukini Road, and engulfed 60 acres of former canefields before it was brought under control after 4 p.m. that day.
A UH-3H helicopter was launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility to help fight the Lihu‘e blaze, a Navy spokesman said.
The helicopter was launched from the Mana base at 3:45 p.m., and made four bucket drops of water before the blaze was brought under control, said Thomas H. Clements, PMRF public affairs officer.
The UH-3H is a Sikorsky Sea King, a medium-lift, utility-support helicopter, has a crew of four people, and is usually used to transport people and equipment, he said.
Navy officials routinely cooperate with Kaua‘i Fire Department leaders when requested, added Clements.
Lester Chang, staff writer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
Staff Writer Tom Finnegan contributed to this report.
