Creating a firebreak with chainsaws and using ATVs to transport water to fight 150-feet-plus flames, five residents worked alongside firefighters in a 1-acre Lawa‘i fire Tuesday night. The fire was roughly 1.5 miles mauka of the Kaumuali‘i Highway and Piko
Creating a firebreak with chainsaws and using ATVs to transport water to fight 150-feet-plus flames, five residents worked alongside firefighters in a 1-acre Lawa‘i fire Tuesday night.
The fire was roughly 1.5 miles mauka of the Kaumuali‘i Highway and Piko Road intersection.
Fourteen firefighters and rescue specialists from the Hanapepe, Kalaheo, Koloa, and Lihu‘e fire stations as well as Inter-Island’s Air-1 helicopter responded to a 7:16 p.m. alarm, according to county officials.
Lawa‘i resident Billy DeCosta said he spotted the fire threatening land belonging to him and friend Anthony Koni Silva around 6 p.m.
On their way to the fire, both DeCosta and Koni Silva said they saw a man with a camera fleeing the area, who said he had been taking pictures.
Once the two made their way further up the mountain, they found an abandoned campsite.
But their main focus at that point, they said, was taking care of the growing fire. Joining them were Koni Silva’s son, Kane, 16; Shawn Grace Jr., 15; and residents Brian Andratti, a former forestry division employee, and Larry Vidinha.
The volunteers all asked Kaua‘i Fire Department officials if they could lend a hand, then they did everything they could to ensure the fire was put out with minimal damage.
“It’s treacherous mountain area and steep, thick vegetation,” DeCosta said. “It’s hard for the fireman to get to that area to fight. We know trails, so we were able to bring the firefighters on the ATV up the trails to the fire and able to lead the Hummer there, too.”
Two Hummers were required because the terrain was too rugged for fire trucks, he said.
Century-old pine trees saturated with sap acted as fuel, threatening to further ignite, while fire continued to engulf the area until the men and the firefighters were able to redirect the flames, Koni Silva, of the Water Department, said.
“We were trying to fight the old-fashioned forestry way, by making a fire break,” Koni Silva said. “Making the fire burn back to where it began and changing the direction of the flames and kind of containing the fire.”
Working collaboratively, they were able to prevent the blaze from spreading across the ridge to the other side, where it could have threatened residences.
Koni Silva said the fact that the weather wasn’t too dry also gave a hand.
“That made things easier,” he said. “It was just falling leaves and falling pine needles, so there really wasn’t much fuel for the fire once we created the fire break.”
After the break was made, he said, the fire department’s combination of fire hoses and Air-1’s water drops extinguished the flames within 15 to 20 minutes.
KFD officials said the fire was deemed under control at 8:45 p.m., and it was out by 11:34 p.m.
Mary Daubert, county spokeswoman, said no one was injured in the fire, though it came close to transmission lines located in the area. KIUC crews were witnessed making assessments on-scene yesterday.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
