Officials have not been available to comment on the latest developments, but residents said they were told that at least two houses burned in the fire.

Linda Harlow, a resident of the Waikoloa Hills condominium, said she and her neighbors had little warning before they had to evacuate near the intersection of Waikoloa Road and Paniolo Avenue.

"We back up to a natural area and it was burning right outside our home," Harlow said. "People were trying to grab what they could. We had like five minutes."

"It just came so close," she said. "The smoke was so thick that you really couldn't see anything."

The Harlows' home is adjacent to a forested area, and officials moved from unit to unit in the complex to warn people to leave shortly after 1 p.m., she said.

Harlow's husband, Al, is pastor of the Waikoloa Community Church on Paniolo Drive, and the couple immediately went to the church to open it for use as an emergency shelter.

Cheryl Vanni, clerk at Waikoloa Elementary School on Paniolo Drive, said parents began calling or arriving at the school at about 1 p.m. to pick up their children early because of the possibility of evacuation.

However, Vanni said the school was not asked to evacuate and there was no strong smell of smoke there. The school day ended as scheduled at 2:05 p.m., she said.

The fire was first reported as a 100-acre brush fire near Lalamilo Farm lots shortly after 2 p.m. yesterday, but overnight grew into one of the largest on the Big Island in recent years, said Big Island Fire Department Battalion Chief Curtis Matsui.

"We smelled the smoke all night, and we came over to the church here in the morning and then when we went home, there was smoke and soot all over everything, and within an hour we were evacuated," Harlow said.