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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, June 8, 2005

Brushfire gives residents a scare

 •  Photo gallery

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Central O'ahu Writer

Photos by Deborah Booker
Advertiser Staff Photographer

WAIKELE — Cyrilee Billings sat with friends on a rock wall across the street from her Village Park home yesterday afternoon, watching firefighters from the 'Ewa Beach engine company roll up their hoses.

"My house is still standing, nobody in the neighborhood got hurt and the fire department did a great job," Billings said, relieved that a brushfire didn't jump the gulch behind her Ka'aholo Street house.

But for nearly five hours yesterday, the fire burned in the gulch between Village Park and Waikele, filling the air with thick smoke and prompting some residents to flee their homes.

Thirteen Honolulu Fire Department companies, including a helicopter, and two federal fire units fought the blaze, which scorched an estimated 70 acres, officials said. The fire department received the alarm at 12:56 p.m. and declared the fire contained by 6 p.m.

Firefighters ran hoses through the yards of homes on Ka'aholo Street and sent streams of water into the gulch to protect the homes. "Protecting property and lives is the most important thing," Battalion Chief Ed Suzuki said. "Because of the proximity and speed of the wind carrying the fire, it was important to set up fast."

The cause of the fire is under investigation, said fire department spokesman Capt. Emmit Kane. Investigators will check on reports that homeless people live in the area of the gulch where the fire started, Kane said.

Suzuki said the last brushfire in the area may have occurred about eight years ago. Carol Brown, who has lived on Ka'aholo Street for 10 years, said this is the first one for her. Like Billings, she said she was thankful firefighters kept the fire in the gulch.

"The wind always sweeps up, even in the summer," said Billings, who was one of about a dozen residents who left their homes at the urging of firefighters. "We took change of clothes, the dog, rabbit and documents. My daughter wanted to take an album with (family) photos. When something like this happens, it makes you think about what's precious."

By late afternoon, Brown and her family were back in their yard, feeling thankful. Pointing to the military access road that runs between her yard and the gulch, Brown said her husband regularly clears the brush, creating a natural firebreak.

"The wind was shifting a lot," Mililani Mauka fire Capt. Andy Smith said. "Because of the wind, we took a defensive posture to protect homes and had four to six companies staged on the military access road to keep the fire from climbing the cliff face. It's hard to get into the gulch. This is the only access, and the terrain is steep."

Late yesterday afternoon, engine companies from Waipahu, Kapolei, 'Aiea, Mililani Mauka and 'Ewa Beach, along with a tower company from Kapolei and tanker from Nanakuli, were operating from an old cane-haul road near Hawai'i's Plantation Village. The road leads into the gulch.

Firefighters also fought a brushfire for about two hours in Kunia that started about 4:30 p.m. yesterday.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com

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