The fire started at 10:30 a.m. yesterday about 200 yards from Kunia Road, across the street from the Hawai'i Country Club and near a Del Monte Fresh Produce field.

HFD Capt. Emmit Kane said 50 firefighters, 25 from HFD and 25 with the federal government, fought the fire with the support of two air units yesterday.

The Nature Conservancy, concerned the fire was threatening endangered native Hawaiian wildlife in its Honouliuli Preserve in the Wai'anae Mountains, said this morning the fire appeared to be creeping higher.

The fire was burning on the lower slopes of the central portion of the 3,692 acre preserve, between Pohakea Pass and Ekahanui.

Pauline Sato, Nature Conservancy's O'ahu program director, said it appeared the fire may have already entered into the habitat of the 'elepaio, an endangered Hawaiian forest bird.

Although most of the affected area has nonnative eucalyptus trees, conservancy staff worried the fire would spread to the upper elevations, where there are a significant native forest and some rare and endangered species.

Five boys from Waipahu were arrested by police at 11:20 a.m. near Del Monte Field No. 32 on suspicion of trespassing on private property. Two of the boys, both 13, were sent to the Alder Street detention facility while the others, ages 14, 15 and 17, were booked and released to the custody of their parents.

The boys were running through the field away from the fire but there's no evidence linking them to the fire, police said.

In another blaze, a Wahiawa family of seven was left homeless yesterday. The fire, at 264 California Ave. was caused by a child playing with a cigarette lighter in a second story apartment, said HFD Capt. Kenison Tejada.

Firefighters had the blaze under control within 7 minutes, Tejada said. Damage was estimated at $100,000 to the upstairs unit and $10,000 to the unit below.

Leeward units fought all but a few of the 14 brushfires from midnight Tuesday to midnight yesterday. Additionally, there were twelve more brushfires from midnight to 9:30 p.m. yesterday, from Kalaeloa to Lualualei.

Fire officials on O'ahu are worried the late summer will be filled with blazesbecause of dry conditions.

"By the number of alarms the fire department has had, it looks like we're into the (brushfire) season," said Pat Costales, O'ahu branch manager for the Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Forestry and Wildlife. "Along with HFD and the federal fire departments, we're all concerned, as we usually are this time of year."

Last year at this time there were 537 brushfires compared with 298 as of 9:30 p.m. yesterday, according to the Honolulu Fire Department. From midnight Monday night to midnight Tuesday night, HFD responded to 14 brushfires. Twelve more started between midnight Tuesday night and 9:30 p.m. yesterday.

Costales said that Wai'anae, Nanakuli, Makaha and Makakilo are high-risk areas. Hawai'i Kai to St. Louis Heights is starting to look dry also, he said.

Costales said the vegetation that built up after the wet winter is beginning to dry, especially on the Leeward side. He predicted the situation will worsen.

"I don't think we've peaked yet. August and September is the hottest time we see in Hawai'i."

An official with the National Weather Service said dry conditions are expected until November, and he echoed Costales' statements that a rainy winter left O'ahu lush with vegetation, which, as it dries out, will become the perfect fuel for fire.

"Now through October is a warm time of year when our temperatures are highest," said Kevin Kodama, a National Weather Service hydrologist.

Anthony Ramelb, a control operator at the Hawaiian Electric Co.'s Wai'anae power station and a Makakilo homeowner, said the station is protected from brushfires by a sprinkler system, fire lanes and a large fire break. Plus, the brush is kept short and away from vulnerable areas, he said.

As for his house in Makakilo, Ramelb said he hasn't seen a significant fire threaten in years. He said HFD has been able to handle whatever fires have popped up.

"I'm not scared for my house," he said. "The brushfires that I've seen, HFD has responded really quick; they (fires) haven't gotten to the size they have before."