Posted at 3:03 p.m., Friday, September 1, 2006
Maui fire prompts home evacuations
Advertiser Staff
MA'ALAEA, Maui — Maui fire officials around 2 p.m. today asked residents of several homes on the makai side of Honoapi'ilani Highway to voluntarily evacuate their homes as a brush fire rages in the West Maui Mountains above Ma'alaea.The fire, which started around 1:30 a.m. today, had burned more than 1,800 acres at last report. The Air National Guard is sending a Black Hawk and a Chinook helicopter to help with water drops.
Honoapi'ilani Highway is closed in both directions due to heavy smoke and firefighting efforts. Deputy Fire Chief Neal Bal said the road should reopen around 7 p.m.
The two-lane highway is the main link between Lahaina and the rest of the island. To provide a route for West Maui motorists to reach Central Maui, police are lettings cars drive on Kahekili Highway around Kahakuloa toward Wailuku, but no traffic is being allowed in from the Wailuku end of the highway.
At one point the fire surrounded the new Kaheawa wind farm, but Mike Gresham of Makani Nui Associates, a partner in the operation, said the 20 turbines were not affected. He said the towers are surrounded by fire breaks and that there was no staff on duty at the wind farm office at the 3,000-foot elevation above Ma'alaea.
