A Maui firefighter yesterday prepared to refill a water truck while helping battle a wildfire in Olowalu. Nearly 500 people last night found they could not drive to their hotel rooms in the West Maui resort area and spent the night in shelters because of a major brushfire.

Honoapi'ilani Highway was reopened about 6:30 a.m., but will be closed again if the fire flares near the highway, said Mahina Martin, spokeswoman for Maui County.

Nearly 500 people — many of them tourists arriving on Maui — last night found they could not drive to their hotel rooms in the West Maui resort area and spent the night in shelters.

Some 427 stranded individuals were put up at Maui High School gymnasium in Kahului. Another 50 took shelter at a gymnasium at the Lahaina Civic Center, Martin said.

Firefighters at this time are working around the fire's perimeter in hopes of keeping it from spreading farther, said Don Medeiros, Maui County Transportation director, who was working out of the county's Civil Defense Office this morning.

"Crunch time will come later today — sometime this afternoon when the winds are expected to pick up again," Medeiros said.

Some of the firefighters "had to run for their lives" yesterday when the gusty winds changed direction several times after the fire broke out at about 10:30 a.m..

Martin said 65 county firefighters battled the fire yesterday. Maui firefighters will be assisted today by 14 firefighters from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

No injuries were reported yesterday.

"We will be launching an aerial reconnaissance shortly to get a better idea on the extent of the fire," Martin said.

Some of the acreage that burned was in the island's Natural Area Reserve, Martin said.

The house that burned was behind the Olowalu Store, county officials said.