Honolulu, U.S. Army use helicopters to fight remote O‘ahu wildfire

HONOLULU — Honolulu and Army helicopters were battling a wildfire Monday in a remote mountainous area in Central O‘ahu.

No structures or homes were threatened and no evacuations were ordered, the Honolulu Fire Department said in a news release.

But ash was falling on nearby neighborhoods and Army bases, and the smell of smoke was in the air, said U.S. Army Garrison Hawai‘i spokesperson Michael Donnelly. Child development centers on base were keeping children indoors because of the ash and smoke, Donnelly said in an email.

The fire was about 1 square mile in size, Honolulu Assistant Fire Chief Kevin Mokulehua said at a news conference. It was slowly expanding toward the east, away from Mililani Mauka, which is the closest residential area.

Mokulehua didn’t know what percent of the fire was contained or what set off the flames.

Two fire department helicopters and two Army Blackhawk helicopters were fighting the blaze. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources sent a contract helicopter to assist.

The nearest towns are Mililani and Wahiawa, which are about 20 miles north of Honolulu. Army installations Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield are also in the vicinity.

October is the rainy season in Hawaii but drought has been afflicting the entire state. The U.S. Drought Monitor said Central O‘ahu was in moderate drought as of last week.

In August, multiple wildfires scorched Maui including a blaze that killed at least 99 people and destroyed more than 2,000 structures in Lahaina. Powerful winds related to a hurricane passing far to Hawai‘i’s south helped fuel that fire and prevented firefighters from using helicopters to tackle the blaze.