A woman who was said to be acting suspiciously on Saturday in an area near Honokai Hale where a brushfire broke out was found Sunday morning with an unexploded Molotov cocktail and an empty gasoline can in her car, police said yesterday.

The 27-year-old Nanakuli resident was arrested at around 10:30 a.m. after police officers ordered her to pull her car over to the side of Farrington Highway, near Nanakai Gardens.

Officers reported finding a beer bottle with liquid inside and a wick extending from the bottle. An empty gasoline can was found next to the bottle.

The woman was arrested on suspicion of possessing a prohibited explosive device and on a contempt-of-court warrant in an unrelated case.

Police said the woman posted $300 bail in connection with the contempt warrant and was released without charges, pending further investigation of the materials found in her car.

Police described the woman as "a person of interest" but not yet a suspect as of yesterday in either of the two brushfires that broke out in the Honokai Hale and Ko Olina areas Saturday. One of the fires came within 30 feet of several of the homes in the area, fire officials said.

The woman arrested Sunday morning matched the description provided by a witness who filed a report with police Saturday about a person acting suspiciously near the intersection of La'aloa Street and Farrington Highway, where one of the brushfires began, police said.

More than 630 brushfires had been reported on O'ahu as of the the end of July, compared with 569 fires in all of 2004. Police have arrested four people in recent weeks in connection with the fires.