Hot spots remain after Ka'u brushfires

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Big Island firefighters continued yesterday to extinguish flare-ups from two Ka'u brushfires that they brought under control the night before.

The fires started shortly before 2 p.m. Friday and kept county firefighters and volunteer crews busy well into the evening. No one was injured but more than 100 acres of pasture and brushland burned.

The first alarm came in from an area near the Seamountain golf course. When firefighters arrived, they found 30 acres engulfed in flames. By the time the fire was brought under control shortly before 8 p.m., another 30 acres had burned.

That fire was thought to have started near the north makai end of Ninole Loop Road. Winds pushed it to Highway 11, causing the shutdown of that road for about three hours.

Moments after the first alarm, a slower-moving fire was reported about three miles away on Highway 11, near the Honu'apo Lookout. A firebreak contained it after about 50 acres burned.