Updated at 5:45 p.m., Thursday, August 30, 2001
Firefighters fight Mililani brush fire
Advertiser Staff
Firefighters are battling a large brush fire near Mililani Memorial Park, but no homes were in danger this afternoon, according to Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo.
The memorial park's road, which also serves as an access to the Waiawa Correctional Facility, has been closed and two funerals scheduled today were postponed.
Police escorted about 20 cemetery visitors and prison workers out of the area because of the fire. The fire, described as the largest so far this year having burned 50 acres, was not under control as of 5:45 p.m. Soo said the fire appeared to have started along the road to the correctional facility, but the cause was not immediately determined. Six engines, two tankers and the department's helicopter Air One were fighting the blaze under the direction of a battalion chief, Soo said. Soo said the military was asked to provide assistance. Last year, a brush fire in the same area closed the H-2 Freeway and burned more than 300 acres. Before it was extinguished, more than 130 city and federal firefighters, along with helicopters from the Honolulu Fire Department, Army and Department of Land and Natural Resources, battled the blaze. Officials called it the biggest brush fire in two years in Central O'ahu.
