Firefighters, aided by local residents, turned back a brushfire that threatened Wai'anae homes yesterday.

The fire advanced to the backyard stone walls of houses on Kawili Street, at the foot of the Pu'u Pahe'ehe'e hill, and within 40 feet of houses along Wai'anae Valley Road, according to HFD Capt. Emmit Kane.

The fire, first spotted as smoke on the ridgeline on the hill, was reported at about 3:40 p.m. About 70 firefighters and the Air One helicopter were able to get the blaze under control by about 5:45 p.m. About 60 acres were burned.

The cause of the fire was not known, but Kane said it may have been intentionally set at a nearby cemetery.

Area residents said that just last month homes in the area were threatened when the Nanakuli-facing side of the hill behind their houses was on fire.

Clyde Calhoun, of Ma'ili, got a call yesterday that the house of his friend, Lito Hernando, was in danger.

He drove over and used a pair of hoses in Hernando's backyard to wet the brush behind the 5-foot wall.

"It was a wall of flame moving (toward the house)," said Calhoun, a 57-year-old mechanical engineer. "It burned as high as the trees."

Firefighters arrived just in time and extinguished the flames, Calhoun said.

A relieved Hernando could only marvel at the close distance — about 15 feet away — the flames had been when he arrived home. Two houses makai, the fire had gone right up to the backyard wall.

Calhoun said the two of them chopped and cleared away the kiawe and brush directly behind Hernando's house to create a fuel break after the most recent Wai'anae fire, which scorched the top of the same hillside. The break was just enough — nearby tree branches were burnt and could have spread the fire over Hernando's wall.

"I was thankful for the fire crews, and my buddy here," Hernando said, and slapped Calhoun on the back. "We knew (the brush-clearing) was a precaution we needed to take."

Gary Okimoto, 38, is a longtime Kawili Street resident. At about 4 p.m., he heard sirens approaching, saw the smoke outside and raced to the house of neighbor Debbie Ginoza, who was out.

He grabbed her backyard hose and helped firefighters put out flames just feet from her wall.

"It's just looking out for each other," said Okimoto, a marketing executive. "(Having another fire) is kind of almost ... expected."

Fire crews responded first to the threat to the Nanakuli-facing Kawili Street homes, and had that under control at about 4:20, Kane said. At that point, they moved around to contain the fire on the Wai'anae Valley side.

Kane said a second fire was reported at about 6 p.m. at Wai'anae High School. A fire company responded and quickly extinguished flames in low-lying brush.

Kane urged residents to keep an eye out for suspicious activity, and call 911 if they see anyone starting a fire.

Firefighters said they would remain in the area overnight to combat any flare-ups.

HFD figures show that there have been 655 brushfires on O'ahu this year as of Thursday. At the same time last year, there had been 387 brushfires.