HANAPEPE — A brush fire called in at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon posed no threat to any structures and no injuries were reported, states a county release. Engines 3, 5, and 6 along with Trucks 5 and 6, Rescue
HANAPEPE — A brush fire called in at about 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon posed no threat to any structures and no injuries were reported, states a county release.
Engines 3, 5, and 6 along with Trucks 5 and 6, Rescue 3 and Air 1 tackled the stubborn blaze in Hanapepe Valley, which was fueled by both dry brush and the brisk tradewinds.
The Hanapepe Valley Lookout was cleared of traffic and used as a base command station by Kaua‘i Fire Department, the Kaua‘i Police Department and the state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources. With the lookout closed, spectators pulled off at the vacant area just west of the lookout, peering through the haole koa and trees for a vantage point of the blaze, which crept up the face of the ridge opposite the lookout.
“They need to catch it by the time it reaches the top, or it will really catch the wind and take off,” one spectator, a former fire science instructor said. “It’s hard to say what caused it because in one incident, there was a fire that got started by an empty Coke bottle which, when combined with how the sun was shining and how dry the surroundings were, posed just the right conditions for a fire to start.”
The growing crowd of spectators grew at the empty piece of land fronting the entrance to the ‘Ele‘ele Nani subdivision, many of the spectators making their way home from work while visitors joined the mix after seeing the smoke.Among the crowd, Ryder Faye, 2, of Waimea was fully dressed in a fire fighter’s outfit.
“Someone called and told us about the fire,” said Roxie Faye, Ryder’s mother who held a secure grip on the toddler who was fully fascinated with the event. “He’s been playing fireman every day for the past six months, getting into his uniform every day.”
About two hours after the blaze was reported, Air 1 was joined by a second helicopter, both refilling water from the reservoir located in the Kaua‘i Coffee fields opposite ‘Ele‘ele Nani and continuing through nightfall.
As of press time, officials have not determined the size of the fire or its cause.
More updates will be released as information become available.
