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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, September 3, 2009

Firefighters working to contain Waiawa Ridge brushfire


Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Firefighters worked until 2 this morning battling a brushfire on Waiawa Ridge. They were back today with heavy equipment as they sought to contain and extinguish the blaze.

JEFF WIDENER | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Honolulu firefighters have returned this morning to a brushfire on Waiawa Ridge that forced a brief closure of H-2 Freeway last night.

Fire Capt. Terry Seelig said about 30 firefighters, five engines and four tankers will be concentrating on containing and extinguishing the remains of the fire. He said bulldozers will cut access paths to hard-to-reach areas so tankers could could provide a constant supply of water.
“It’s not as active a fire as it was last night, but it’s still burning,” Seelig said. “It’s more of a creeping ground fire.”
Seelig said the fire had consumed more than 350 acres but was still not a threat to property.
Seelig said firefighters worked until 2 this morning and “were able to do quite a bit of containment on the ground.”
The Waiawa blaze was the largest of six brushfires reported on Oahu yesterday, when the National Weather Service issued a rare statewide “red flag warning” for leeward areas indicating conditions were dangerously ideal for combustion.
The weather service expected the warning to be extended through today, but lifted it this morning.
The Waiawa fire was reported at 3:30 p.m. and by 7 had scorched about 100 acres of former sugar cane land.
The fire flared up later in the evening and a portion of the freeway was closed from about 9:15 to 10 as a precaution.