NANAKULI — Jana Teixeira has seen summer brushfires light up many hillsides over the years along the Wai'anae Coast but the spectacular view last night from her La'aunoni Place home made her nervous.

"It's scary," Teixeira said of the red, spur-shaped pattern of the fire raging up the mountain ridge on the diamondhead side of Nanakuli Avenue. "For us, this is the closest it's ever come to our house."

The fire was over a half-mile from Teixeira's house and headed uphill, but danger was only a wind shift away. "We're being cautious," Teixeira said. "I worry most about the smoke. You can run away from the fire but you've got to breathe the smoke."

At press time last night, there had been no buildings damaged, no injuries and no evacuations.

Eighteen Honolulu Fire Department companies and seven federal units were strategically positioned on Palehua Road, Nanakuli Avenue and Farrington Highway last night to prevent the fire from reaching homes or from spreading into forest land.

"I came home and saw a small (amount) of smoke at the top" of the mountain, Teixeira said. "All of a sudden it was all over."

The fire, which started at 1:30 p.m., was a difficult one because firefighters had to do it the hard way: without water lines.

Fifteen units were involved in the early effort to contain the fire but the location up the mountain made it impossible for them to use hoses. The sole source of water on the fire for nearly 3 1/2 hours was the Fire Department's helicopter, which is equipped with a 120-gallon water basket filled to about 90 to 100 gallons of water.

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources pitched in and provided a second helicopter for water drops at about 5 p.m.

HFD Battalion Chief Rolland Harvest said that 40 firefighters with "brush beaters" — mats attached to the ends of hoes — were transported by helicopter onto the ridge to fight the fire in conjunction with the water drops.

"It's a two-step process, with people (in the brush) following up the water drops," Harvest said. "It's difficult and we have people in dangerous terrain on the face of the mountain."

Harvest planned to pull all firefighters off the ridge by sunset. The helicopters also cannot perform water drops at night.

Firefighters were expecting to make a stand with hoses at night to safeguard homes on the diamondhead side of Nanakuli Avenue, if necessary, said Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada.

Harvest said the fire was not deliberately set.

"It started below the (electrical) transmission line, high up the mountain in an area that's inaccessible, so we think it's something with the electrical lines," he said.

Fire Department statistics show there have been almost 700 brushfires so far this year — over 100 more than the total for all of last year.