WAILUA — The sight of a brush fire raging out of control in the grass across Kuhio Highway from the Aloha Beach Resort-Kauai created traffic woes for Kaua‘i Police Department traffic-control officers who worked alongside Kaua‘i Fire Department personnel to
WAILUA — The sight of a brush fire raging out of control in the grass across Kuhio Highway from the Aloha Beach Resort-Kauai created traffic woes for Kaua‘i Police Department traffic-control officers who worked alongside Kaua‘i Fire Department personnel to contain the fire that was reported before 5 p.m., Sunday.
“When we got here, it was by the road leading to the Wailua Marina,” one Kapa‘a firefighter noted while catching his breath. “We tried to hit it, but ran out of water.”
By 7:30 p.m., the fire was picking up, and fanned out towards the mountains from the county’s emergency bypass road, preventing crews from opening up the road for traffic-relief purposes even after the combination to the gate was acquired.
This created a traffic snarl, as numerous cars pulled off the highway to the shoulder to allow drivers and passengers to get better vantage points of the fire that was enhanced colorfully by the descent of twilight in the Wailua area.
Many of the occupants deserted their cars and poked through the brush in order to access the bypass road, hoping to get better views of the blaze. This kept police personnel busy as they resorted to using a roving patrol vehicle and the public-address system to keep traffic off the shoulders.
This proved to be futile, as cars continued to pull off the highway, some drivers actually stopping on the main highway so occupants could view the blaze from a break in the brush just Wailua-side of the highway’s intersection with South Leho Road.
Firefighters from Kapa‘a, Lihu‘e, Waimea, and the Hanalei stations were fighting to get the blaze under control at 7:30 p.m., using the Hummer vehicles from the Hanalei and Waimea stations to access the more remote areas of the blaze.
Crews were still fighting the fire full on as of press time. No cause of the blaze was available at press time.
The blaze caused colorful smoke which caused a cloud visible from most of the Eastside.
