Residents of Kalama'ula on Moloka'i were allowed to stay in their homes as shifting winds pushed away a brushfire that had scorched more than 6,000 acres, threatening the Hotel Molokai, injuring a firefighter and burning a carport.

Police went house-to-house last night telling residents that they needed to evacuate because flames that had first moved mauka had turned and headed for their homes. Hours later, residents were given the all-clear sign as the fire shifted to the west, said Mahina Martin, Maui County spokeswoman.

Only a few residents last night were staying at an emergency shelter that the American Red Cross opened at the Mitchell Pauole Community Center in Kaunakakai, said Lester Keanini, Red Cross shelter manager.

"There are some older folks here," Keanini said. "I passed by the area recently and the fire is coming closer. It's coming down the mountain, and we have some ash in the air. The winds are back, so it's not as smoky as before."

In all there were two evacuation orders yesterday — one mandatory and the other, hours earlier, voluntary.

While helicopters were prevented from doing water drops by nightfall, heavy equipment and fire personnel built fire breaks, Martin said. Helicopters will return this morning at first light.

Flames reached within 100 yards of the Hotel Molokai yesterday, said Michael Drew, hotel general manager. The hotel canceled Sunday brunch and sent workers home, Drew said.

"That was a little too close," he said. "There was a lot of smoke, and I closed the restaurant and bar."

At 2 a.m. yesterday, some Kaunakakai residents were advised to voluntarily evacuate as flames came within 20 feet of homes and residents protected their houses with garden hoses.

The fire began at 12:05 p.m. Saturday, although county officials aren't sure how it started.

The blaze damaged a garage, and a firefighter suffered smoke inhalation on Saturday. The firefighter was treated at Molokai General Hospital and was in stable condition, county officials said.

Jim Bedient, a Kaunakakai resident, said the fire was huge and threatened a community called The Heights. Some residents left the neighborhood and loaded their horses in trailers from a small farm on Kamehameha IV Highway, Bedient said.

"The saving grace is it will soon be dawn, and the helicopters can return," Bedient said. "Their work (Saturday) kept the fire from moving as far and as fast as it has overnight."

At the Hotel Molokai, Drew kept the landscaping sprinklers running all day and night to keep a circle of wet grass as a barrier in case the flames return. "It all depends on the winds," he said. "We'll have to keep an eye on it."

More than 30 firefighters worked over the weekend battling 17 different sections of the fire. Firefighters used five bulldozers, two loaders and three water tankers from the county's Department of Public Works, state agencies and private companies.

Four helicopters resumed water drops yesterday morning, filling up at Cooke Memorial Pool in Kaunakakai and from private swimming pools.

Firefighters came from Maui's Wailuku, Makawao and Kihei fire stations to help Moloka'i firefighters yesterday. In all more than 50 firefighters from county and state agencies were fighting the fire. In addition, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Forestry and Wildlife sent 23 of its wildland firefighters.

Blossom Poepoe at Kanemitsu Bakery & Restaurant in Kaunakakai said the air was a bit smoky yesterday.

"Hopefully it will burn away from things," Poepoe said. "But it looks like it's heating up again."

Moloka'i has about 7,000 residents. Kaunakakai is its largest town. According to recent U.S. Department of Agriculture data and the National Weather Service reports, the 260-square-mile island is experiencing a moderate to severe drought on its eastern and western ends.