Fire set in Makua now out of control

By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Fires set by the U.S. Army to clear training areas in the Makua Military Reservation were burning out of control today, sparking angry reaction from community activists who have long opposed military use of the valley.

About 2,500 acres had burned by mid-day, the Army said.

Witnesses said the fire had swept north from the planned burn in Makua Valley and through neighboring Kahanahaiki Valley. It went up the north valley wall to Peacock Flats.

The fire also had jumped Farrington Highway in two places yesterday, stopping only at the sand on Makua Beach, said Wai'anae resident William Aila Jr.

"Of the three valleys that make up Makua Military Reservation, I would say 70 percent is either burned or currently burning, including all the way up to ridges where several areas of biological concern — endangered species — have been burned," he said. "It's really sad."

The Army, the Federal Fire Department and Honolulu Fire Department were working to control the fire. Army Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters were dumping water on the blaze.

The Army had planned a controlled burn of 800 to 900 acres yesterday morning.

Fires in the reservation, which is used by soldiers for live ammunition training, are part of the Army's overall plan to manage the area, conduct ordnance clearing and continue archaeological surveys.

In announcing its plans, the Army said it had considered the area's drought conditions and decided that "the timing is ideal since burns are more successful when conditions are dry."

They started the fire at 11:30 a.m. But at 2:30 p.m., weather conditions changed.

"There was a sudden and distinct change in those conditions, specifically wind speed and direction," said Capt. Steve Wollman, a spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division (Light) and U.S. Army, Hawai'i. "That may be the cause of this incident."

Kyle Kajihiro, a spokesman for the American Friends Service Committee, watched the fire from Farrington Highway this morning. He called the fire "a disaster."

"It is breathtaking," he said. "It is so big."

He said the fire likely destroyed endangered plants growing near the Ukanipo Heiau.

"That whole area is charred," he said.

The military has used Makua Valley since World War II. It has been bombed from the air, shelled from the sea and attacked by ground troops moving through its rolling terrain.

But many of those exercises sparked fires — about 270 in the past 11 years. A "controlled burn" set in 1995 also went out of control, eventually burning 1,500 acres.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8012.