Arson suspected in three fires on Koko Crater
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser East Honolulu Writer
The third brush fire in a week erupted on Koko Crater yesterday less than an hour after crews checked the area — leading firefighters to suspect that all may have been intentionally set.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Firefighters had walked through the area yesterday morning to ensure that there were no smoldering piles of grass or kiawe trees from Monday's blaze. Forty-five minutes later, they were called to the same site — at the edge of Kalaniana'ole Highway, near the entrance to Sandy Beach — after smoke was spotted, said fire Capt. Dudley Dias.
Firefighters take position to battle a fire that quickly burned the dry grass and brush below the old Job Corps site near Koko Head District Park in Hawai'i Kai. On Koko Crater, there have been three brush fires in a week — the last one came less than an hour after crews checked the area.
"We'd have to find a match in the acres of burned brush to prove they were maliciously set," said Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada. But, "the circumstances and the timing are suspicious," he said.
Two hours later, firefighters were called to Koko Head District Park, on the other side of the crater, to put out burning brush that city tree trimmers said just burst into flames.
The two fires were unrelated, Tejada said.
In the past two months, firefighters have fought seven brush fires in and around Hawai'i Kai. Three of those fires were in approximately the same location — in Kalama Valley near the Hawai'i Kai Golf Course, just 30 yards off Kealahou Street — and on successive days, July 21-23. One of those fires was a rekindling of an earlier blaze on the approximately 10 acres, but firefighters noted at the time that three fires in three days was "fairly suspicious."
The first of the three fires on the Sandy Beach side of Koko Crater occurred last Wednesday, burning 50 to 100 acres, sending flames to the top of the crater and forcing the evacuation of the Koko Crater Equestrian Center.
Firefighters noted that the area is dry.
"The brush is ripe for fire," Dias said. "It's plentiful and shin-high. The grass burns quickly, (and) the trees can sometimes burn for a week."
On Monday afternoon, firefighters responded to the second of the three fires on the Sandy Beach side of Koko Crater. Firefighters worked hard at mopping up the area, Dias said. They wet the area down with water and used shovels and brush-beaters.
"We did a heavy wet job with the tanker and with that, there were no hotspots left," Dias said, lending to the suspicion that the fires were intentionally set.
Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
