WAIMEA — A brush fire that broke out Saturday afternoon in Koke‘e — scorching at least 10 acres of the forest — was partially contained by press time, officials said. “As of 8:30 p.m., the Koke‘e brush fire is about
WAIMEA — A brush fire that broke out Saturday afternoon in Koke‘e — scorching at least 10 acres of the forest — was partially contained by press time, officials said.
“As of 8:30 p.m., the Koke‘e brush fire is about 75 percent contained,” Kaua‘i Fire Chief Robert Westerman said in a news release.
Eighteen county firefighters, Air-1, five state DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife personnel and two members of the Pacific Missile Range Facility Crash Fire unit battled the blaze.
Efforts to extinguish the fire along Makaha Ridge Road in Waimea Canyon State Park started when a call was placed to dispatch at 2:26 p.m., said county spokesperson Mary Daubert.
“It had a two-mile diameter,” she said.
Inter-Island Helicopters pilot Ken D’Attilio provided aerial support until after dark.
It is unclear how the fire started, though an Inter-Island Helicopters spokesperson said July 3-5 is a “big time for fires” and they were on “ready reserve with fuel tanks.”
Makaha Ridge Road is near mile marker 14 with several dirt hunting roads leading off the paved road into a forested picnic area.
A cabin owner said around 7 p.m. that the fire was continuing to spread throughout the remote, dry pine forest, but fortunately it was not windy. He said there are some 20 to 30 cabin owners in the vicinity, but they had not been asked to evacuate at that time.
Check www.thegardenisland.com for updates.
