While firefighters continued to battle a wildfire spreading up the slopes above Maui Meadows on Thursday, Maui police reported arresting a teenager who admitted to using a lighter to start the fire that went out of control Saturday, The Maui News reported today.

Police said the brush fire was started "accidentally" when a small fire reportedly started by the youth blazed out of control Saturday afternoon.

After interviewing four teenagers who were at the site when the fire started, police arrested a 15-year-old Kihei boy who had the lighter that was used to start the fire, said police Lt. Don Simpson of the Criminal Investigation Division. The boy, who was the only one involved in starting the fire, was charged with second-degree arson based on more than $1,500 in damage caused by the fire, Simpson said. He said the youth was released to his father Wednesday.

On Thursday, Maui County firefighters were working through the night to contain the wildfire that had spread across an estimated 500 acres alongside and above Maui Meadows. The fire broke out at about 2 p.m. Wednesday when a hot spot from the Saturday fire apparently was reignited by strong afternoon winds.

By 6:30 p.m., the fire was 75 percent to 80 percent contained in fields of kiawe trees and dry grass above Piilani Highway, said Battalion Chief Jeff Shaffer, who flew over to inspect the burning area Thursday evening.

He said bulldozers had cut firebreaks around the burn area, and 58 firefighters and other personnel were working to put out hot spots within 50 feet of the perimeter.

"We have containment, but we don't want it to jump the line," Shaffer said.

Fire crews were battling changing weather conditions typical of the southwest slopes of Haleakala. At midday and in the early afternoon, the sunbaked South Maui region experiences periods of high temperatures, low humidity and high winds, and the fire danger is high. By late afternoon, when the humidity rises and temperatures drop, the fire danger decreases, Shaffer said.

"It will sit down in the evening and stand up during those dry, hot periods," Shaffer said. "It's unpredictable."

The earlier fire started Saturday afternoon in a field behind the Wailea Fire Station, burning across the 20-acre parcel behind the homes along Keonekai Road and Kauhale Street before gusty winds pushed the flames across the highway.

The wildfire blazed up the slopes next to Maui Meadows to scorch about 155 acres, forcing evacuation of several residents, before it was largely contained Sunday evening.

When the fire rekindled Wednesday afternoon, some Maui Meadows residents evacuated from their homes again as flames burned to within 30 yards of residential lots. No injuries and no damage to homes were reported.

To battle the blaze, a crew of as many as 17 state Division of Forestry and Wildlife firefighters joined 40 Maui County firefighters and the Fire Department's Air One helicopter, piloted by Dean Graham of Windward Aviation.

Goodfellow Bros. and the county Public Works Department provided bulldozers that cut firebreaks and water tankers to spray the edges of the fire to prevent any significant damage to property or people, Shaffer said.

"We couldn't have done it without them," he said. "These guys provide an unbelievable amount of help."

He said firefighters also "did an amazing job protecting homes."

"They saved numerous homes from any damage," Shaffer said. "They worked long and hard under extreme conditions."

For more Maui news, visit The Maui News at www.mauinews.com.