Firefighters yesterday were dispatched three times to battle a wildfire and subsequent flare-ups in the Waiawa area near H-2 Freeway.

It was the latest in a series of wildfires in the area since Sept. 2 that have prompted officials to close lanes on H-2 five times, including twice yesterday.

A 5-acre wildfire broke out just after noon yesterday and came within about 50 yards of the northbound lanes of H-2.

The fire was reported in the lower area of fallow sugar cane land northeast of H-2, about midway between the H-1/H-2 merge and the Ka Uka Boulevard off-ramp.

HFD firefighters attacked the fire on the ground using hoses from a fire truck on the north-bound lanes of H-2 and from dirt roads in the old cane fields.

Two north-bound lanes were closed where fire trucks were parked and firefighters were working. The fire was contained about 2:30 p.m.

The fire flared up at 5:58 p.m. Again, police blocked some north-bound lanes.

Firefighting operations were suspended at 8:30 p.m., but at 9:40 firefighters were back after the fire flared up again. The size of the fire was not immediately known.

Fires have burned in the area since Sept. 2, when a fire along Waiawa Ridge burned an estimated 350 acres and prompted H-2 lane closures Sept. 2 and 4.

On Saturday, a fire prompted the closure briefly of all north- and south-bound lanes of H-2.

No homes or other structures have been damaged by the fires.