The July 15 fire at the Lihu‘e transfer station may have been maliciously set or may have been started when containers with combustible materials or residue, some not compatible, punctured, county officials told Kaua‘i County Council committee members Wednesday. County
The July 15 fire at the Lihu‘e transfer station may have been maliciously set or may have been started when containers with combustible materials or residue, some not compatible, punctured, county officials told Kaua‘i County Council committee members Wednesday.
County officials said while the Kaua‘i Police Department continues to investigate the fire, no connection exists between that fire that scorched 60 acres at the transfer station and a fire that ignited at the Puhi Metals Recycling Center during the evening hours of that day, officials said. Both fires were put under control and extinguished.
Officials offered responses to those key matters and others in a report that was presented during a council committee meeting at the historic County Building.
The presentation was a follow-up to a meeting in late July in which county administration officials met with council committee members to go over the emergency response.
County officials said Wednesday’s meeting was intended to help federal, state and county agencies evaluate their emergency capabilities and to improve their responses to man-made and natural emergencies that may confront the island in the future.
Mayor Bryan Baptiste said, that under the circumstances of that day, with three emergencies unfolding, he was generally pleased by the overall coordination of emergency resources for the July 15 fire.
County fire officials said that while county government resources, manpower and equipment are in place to handle single-incident disasters, including hurricanes or tsunamis, government agencies need more training to better cope with multifaceted emergencies.
On July 15, emergency response teams had their hands full, responding to a chemical fire at the Lihu‘e transfer station, a brush fire and the downing of a helicopter as it tried to help put out the fire in Lihu‘e.
Within a multi-page report to the council, Kaua‘i Fire Department official Russell Yee, said the cause of the July 15 fire has not been determined.
“Although witness statements refer to the area of the origin, pinpointing the exact point of origin is impossible because of the amount of overhaul done to the site,” Yee responded. “Without a point of origin, a definite determination is not possible.”
Yee offered four theories on how he thought the fire ignite:
- The pile of white goods contained “propane cylinders, 60 gal. barrels, insulation from various appliances and plastic components of various appliances.”
- Removal of the white goods contributed to the ignition of the fuels.
- Mixture of contents in the debris may have included incompatible chemicals.
- The fire was maliciously set.
As firefighters responded to a nighttime fire at Abe’s Metal Recycling Center on July 15, Battalion Chief Mitchell Ikeda said firefighters saw a large pile of cars and appliances on fire.
A locked gate had to be cut open so that fire trucks could enter the facility, Ikeda reported. County firefighters were assisted by firefighters from the Lihu‘e Airport Crash/Fire team that poured foam on burning debris.
The Puhi fire may have started by something that had taken place at the Lihu‘e transfer station, Ikeda indicated.
“Abe’s Recycling personnel were hauling white goods from the Lihu‘e transfer station to their yard in Puhi on the day of the fire,” Ikeda said in response. “KFD (Kaua‘i Fire Department) is unable to establish or determine the cause of the fire which occurred at Abe’s nor can a direct connection be established between this and the Lihu‘e transfer station fire.”
During an earlier meeting on the July 15 fire, residents, including councilman Mel Rapozo and Hanalei resident and government watchdog Ray Chuan, had complained that the blaze likely would not have started had the facility not been used as a storage site for white goods in the first place.
Chuan also said the ground on which rested a mountain of white goods was not treated to catch pollutants.
Rapozo said that when he had gone down to the Lihu‘e facility, it was his impression Abe’s Recycling workers were not separating the white goods before delivering the debris to the Puhi facility.
In response, Kaua‘i County Public Works Department officials said the original bid to remove the white goods from the Kekaha Debris Recycling Station and the Kapa‘a and Lihu‘e refuge transfer station was finalized in early November, 2003.
The process took time because some council members felt a need to add a “pre-haul processing requirement for white goods and light scrap metal ” at the Kekaha Landfill and the Lihu‘e transfer station, Public Works officials said.
The contract to haul white goods was awarded in June 30, 2004.
Council members wondered why Abe’s Recycling was allowed to seemingly haul materials without separating solid waste from white goods.
Public Works officials said a spot inspection by a project manager showed the contractor was separating debris, including “special waste items that included tires, lead acid batteries and propane cylinders with valves.”
At times, the contractor hauled goods to both the Kekaha Landfill and the Puhi Metals Recycling Center, and that some contaminated materials reached the Puhi facility, Public Works indicated.
In other responses to council questions, county officials noted that more training is in the works and that the county spent $14,366.78 in responding to the July 15 fire at the county facility in Lihu‘e.
Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@pulitzer.net
