Posted on: Friday, May 13, 2005
Fire spreads to 2nd valley
By Peter Boylan
Advertiser Staff Writer
NANAKULI — A raging wildfire at the back of Nanakuli Valley burned into its third day yesterday, leaving 1,000 acres charred, firefighters feeling the effects of exhaustion and residents frustrated with the acrid smoke.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser The blaze did not threaten homes but the smoke and haze coupled with 15 mph gusts of wind made it difficult for residents to breathe, and allowed the pungent smoke to linger.
The smoke was strong enough to close Nanakuli High School and Intermediate School yesterday.
The stubborn fire is the biggest of the dry season, which starts in May and runs through early October. During the dry season, the tall grass and wild bushes die and clump up, turning the Wai'anae Coast into a tinderbox.
Residents in the area were watching the fire closely.
Phil Spalding III • The Nature Conservancy "I just got one new baby ... it's terrible," he said, as he stood in his driveway. "Look, I had to wash two cars today."
Moki Armitage, 23, watched a multi-hued cloud of smoke creep out to sea, past the house she has lived in all her life. She noted that fires always mark the start of the dry season, but it seemed to begin earlier than usual this year.
About 95 firefighters, some from as far away as Manoa and including 20 on loan from the military, worked in rotating shifts throughout the day as the fire burned a path across the back bowl of Nanakuli Valley and crept into Lualualei.
Kane said the department shifted some of its resources from downtown to compensate for the holes in manpower and equipment left by rural companies forced into service in Wai'anae.
The firefighters were supported by water drops by two military helicopters, HFD's Air One, an aircraft on loan from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and one from The Nature Conservancy.
By 6 p.m., firefighters were preparing to pull off the main fire line at the back of Nanakuli Valley because most of the advancing fire had been extinguished. Kane said the second front continued to burn on Navy land, but firefighters with HFD and the federal government had hemmed in the blaze and were preparing a final offensive against the fire.
As the sun set yesterday, the smoke filtered the light into three distinct shades of orange, and the black soot that was swirling off the second fire front began to look dirty brown.
Kane said limited water access at the back of Nanakuli Valley forced HFD tankers to shuttle water to firefighters.
Kane said yesterday's work was grueling. The shifts became part hike, part firefighting. Firefighters hiked in with rolls of hose and strapped 60-pound tanks of water to their backs to beat out smoldering patches of brush or isolated fires left behind the advancing fire line.
He said firefighters would rush to the spot where a chopper pilot had just dropped water and heap piles of dirt on the smoldering spots while others put out embers with whatever water they had.
The flames intensified the already hot conditions in West O'ahu. Since Tuesday, one firefighter has been treated for dehydration.
"The guys are just beat, as to be expected," Kane said.
The American Red Cross has served more than 220 meals to firefighters in between shifts on the fire line.
The Red Cross has also put a six-person shelter team on alert in case the evacuation of families becomes necessary.
In addition to the burning brush, officials with The Nature Conservancy were concerned yesterday that the endangered Hawaiian tree snail and several other rare plants could be destroyed by the advancing fire.
The Honouliuli Preserve extends across more than 3,500 acres on the southeast slope of the Wai'anae Mountains from Makakilo to Schofield Barracks and contains more than 90 rare Hawaiian plants and animals.
According to Pauline Sato, The Nature Conservancy's O'ahu program director, the fire threatens a corner of the preserve above Nanakuli where the Conservancy's Palikea ridgeline hiking trail is located.
As of 6 p.m. yesterday the fire had not encroached onto conservancy land.
Police are still working with firefighters to determine the cause of both blazes, which are believed to have been deliberately set.
Reach Peter Boylan at 535-8110 or pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Honolulu Fire Department Capt. Emmit Kane said a second fire front had opened up on a ridgeline late Wednesday and burned into Lualualei Valley, consuming about 60 acres of brush.
A military helicopter was one of several aircraft that assisted yesterday with the battle against the brush fire in Nanakuli.
Elward Westbrook, a 29-year-old Chevron employee, said the smoke and falling ash forced him to run four fans in his house to circulate fresh air into his newborn baby's bedroom.
The fire is threatening a corner of the Honouliuli Preserve above Nanakuli near the Palikea ridgeline hiking trail, said a Nature Conservancy official. The preserve is home to more than 90 rare Hawaiian species.
He said helicopter pilots would continue to drop water on the flames until nightfall, when two firefighters would be posted on each front to keep an eye on the fire. Kane said firefighters would return in the morning to monitor the situation and see if additional action is necessary.
