A rash of fires scorched dry terrain in Puhi yesterday — the result of a blaze that began late Sunday night near Halehaka Road. While the initial fire was deemed under control at 5:30 a.m. yesterday, county officials said it
A rash of fires scorched dry terrain in Puhi yesterday — the result of a blaze that began late Sunday night near Halehaka Road.
While the initial fire was deemed under control at 5:30 a.m. yesterday, county officials said it would likely continue to smolder and smoke for a few days.
“Now it’s burning very slowly, deep in the forest under trees and causing a lot of smoke,” Fire Chief Robert Westerman said in a county statement.
Eight on-duty firefighters from Kalaheo, Lihu‘e and Waimea fire stations were backed up yesterday by six on-call firefighters, a Public Works water tender and Inter-Island helicopter Air-1 owned by Ken D’Attilio.
A second fire around noon on the Westside temporarily diverted firefighters and Air-1 from the Puhi brush fires. The valley blaze, which began midday yesterday when an agricultural burn in Makaweli Valley spread to nearby fields, was deemed under control around 1 p.m.
As of press time, an estimated 30 acres of brush and 100 acres within the Huleia National Wildlife Refuge, adjacent to Menehune Fish Pond, had burned. One person was expected to monitor the scene throughout the night.
Refuge Manager Mike Hawkes with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said he is already inquiring about federal funding to cover the expense of putting out the fire on refuge land, though he did not have an estimate as of press time.
A representative from the service was at the scene yesterday with fire officials to provide access to the refuge lands as needed, Hawkes said.
Sometime in the near future, the service will create a rehabilitation plan, which will likely include the planting of native plants in the area. In addition, scorched signs and gates will have to be replaced, he said.
As for the endangered species of waterbirds — the Hawaiian stilt, coot, moorhen and duck — they mostly reside in unaffected wetlands.
“(The fire) is not bothering them,” Hawkes said.
Birds in the other areas of the refuge are mostly non-native, he added, and they relocate in fire situations.
According to the service’s Web site, there are no native mammals, reptiles or amphibians at the refuge.
County Public Information Officer Mary Daubert said Kaua‘i firefighters have responded to 52 fires in the last month, roughly one quarter of the year-to-date total. Almost half have been started by careless acts such as tossing cigarettes out of windows, according to a county press release.
In the statement, Fire Department Chief Robert Westerman requested the public’s support in preventing further fires.
The department has been taxed during the past week with more than 10 fires. Seasonal weather forecasts do not appear to be cooperating, with dry conditions in store throughout the islands.
