A day after arsonists set six brushfires on O'ahu's Leeward Coast, Maui was struck by at least five suspicious fires early yesterday morning — four of them off the Honoapi'ilani Highway that merged into one big fire and disrupted traffic all day between West and Central Maui.

A fire that was started next to the Kihei Boat Ramp was quickly extinguished, but firefighters continued to battle flames in the rugged slopes and gulches above the Honoapi'ilani Highway between the scenic lookout and Ma'alaea into the night.

The road that links West and Central Maui was closed as the daily commute began and stayed that way until 7 a.m., when police opened one lane of traffic. Traffic was congested and slow into the night.

The fire burned more than 150 acres and was reported contained by 11:30 a.m., but two helicopters continued to make water drops on hot spots, and crews faced uncertain winds.

"There are still a lot of hot spots in inaccessible areas and gusts are blowing 30 mph and getting worse," said Battalion Chief Alan Pascua of the Maui Fire Department.

Pascua said initial reports were that at least four fires were suspiciously set in different places along a 1 1/2-mile stretch of highway from near the scenic lookout to Buzz's Wharf restaurant at about 1:15 a.m.

At 2:50 a.m., a fifth fire was reported at the Kihei Boat Ramp, nine miles down the coast. That fire caused minimal damage before it was extinguished.

Five engine companies and three tanker trucks worked the Honoapi'ilani fire as crews struggled to maintain water flow.

"We had to keep extending the hoses," Maui Deputy Fire Chief Neal Bal said. "Just when we got it under control, we would run out of water."

The perimeter of the fire stretched for three miles and reached the 450-foot level. Flames jumped the highway near the scenic lookout and burned an acre before it was extinguished by crews, Pascua said. Some utility poles were burned, but no structures were threatened and no injuries were reported.

The closed highway caused tourists to miss flights, while many residents were prevented from going to work.

Business at the Pacific Whale Foundation in Ma'alaea was off by 50 percent as scores of tourists were unable to make their boat tours, said Marsha Sarver, director of cruises.

On O'ahu, Wai'anae Coast residents expressed exasperation yesterday over the rash of area brushfires in recent weeks.

"People are just as frustrated as us," said Maj. Michael Tamashiro, with HPD District 8, which covers Leeward O'ahu. "I see their faces at our neighborhood board meetings, and people are just throwing up their hands."

The six fires on Monday scorched 100 acres of land from 'Ewa to Yokohama Bay Beach, disrupted traffic up and down the coast, and stranded westbound H-1 motorists at Kapolei for nearly two hours while firefighters battled a raging fire next to the freeway, less than a quarter-mile from Kapolei's major shopping area.

"People are not pleased at all that this is happening," said Cynthia Rezentes, who chairs the Wai'anae Coast Neighborhood Board.

"It's kids doing all these fires," said Arthur Anderson, 60, echoing the sentiments of many. Anderson said his 1.5-acre spread in the Wai'anae Valley came close to going up in flames last week.

"The whole gulch was on fire. Boy, I was worried. It was close. It was 3 o'clock in the morning and everyone was out squirting water with garden hoses. It took two hours for six fire trucks to put it out."

Bob Mokiao, 59, who lives in Nanakuli and grew up in Wai'anae, said when he was young, kids were more disciplined.

"We cared for the 'aina," he said. "We respected the law, and we respected people's property."

The solution according to Mokiao: "The bottom line is discipline. I don't care what anybody says."

However, some suspect the fires are the work of someone other than kids. Rezentes said a few folks are wondering if there could be a correlation between the spike in fires and a recent spike in area robberies and thefts. They wonder if criminals might be setting the fires in order to divert the attention of authorities, she said.

"We can't make a definitive correlation, but why in the world are we having all these fires deliberately set?" she said.

But HPD's Tamashiro said it's not unusual for theft and robbery rates to increase during the summer months. And while it's also not unusual for the number of fires to increase, he doubted if there was a connection between the two.

For example, Tamashiro said there was no noticeable increase in the reports of theft or robberies on Monday.

"What I'm saying is it's not unusual that we have a spike (in these crime rates) during this time of the year because school's out and we attribute a lot of that to the juveniles."

And, based at least on the five young persons known to have been involved in area brushfires started in the past two months, Tamashiro said it's not unreasonable to assume the current culprits are kids as well.

"I can't confirm it," he said. "You would think that that's a juvenile act, but you never know."