A wildfire on Hawaii island has grown to nearly 10,000 acres overnight as county, state and federal firefighters prepare for a “prolonged, intense firefight.”
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources in a news release today said the so-called Leilani fire, which started several weeks ago on the Pohakuloa Training Area, grew from 700 acres Wednesday night to 9,800 acres today.
The land department said the fire was dormant for weeks until recent high hinds resulted in its spread. The fire is located west of the Daniel K. Inouye Highway and south of State Highway 190.
The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said that the fire has not spread beyond this morning’s position of one mile from Highway 190 and three miles from Puuanahulu. All roads are currently open.
Firefighters from the DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife, the federal PTA fire department, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, the Hawaii Fire Department and Hawaii County Department of Public Works are all working to stop the fire.
The 33 firefighters that are responding are getting support from nine private contract bulldozers that are building a fire line around the perimeter of the fire. Two HFD helicopters equipped with 80-gallon tanks of water are also being used to try to stop it, and by the end of the day the U.S. Army will send five helicopters to assist.
“This is an all-hands effort. We’re watching the winds this afternoon, send towering columns of smoke into the air,” said Steve Bergfeld, DOFAW Hawaii island branch manager, in a statement.
The fire is mostly burning invasive fountain grass, the DLNR reported. It’s not endangering any private property or homes and may eventually be contained by lava flows.
The DLNR said the winds are causing the fire to burn in three directions. The National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning in effect for the island, but that has since expired, the county civil defense agency noted.
Locally strong trade winds will continue into the night and gradually decrease on Friday and Saturday before becoming land and sea breezes early next week, NWS said. Little rainfall is anticipated.
Last year in July and August, the Mana Road Fire on Hawaii island burned about 40,000 acres.
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