Resident ‘got lucky’ in ‘mayday’ moment

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MAALAEA - Maalaea resident Ed Begley said he "got lucky" as a brush fire roared close on both sides of his oceanfront home Sunday, but never burned his property.

"It just went right around me. It just burned right in front of me and behind me," said the Maalaea Bay Place resident on Monday. It even managed to get on the water side and burn the landscaping between his house and the ocean.

Begley said he had just gotten home Sunday afternoon when all of his smoke alarms started going off.

"This is a pretty intense cane burn, I thought."

Then Begley saw flames. "I saw it light up."

But he had no time to watch as neighbors began to call him to help with their dogs. Begley went to Paul Gammie's home to tend to his dogs, because the family was not home.

Some of Gammie's dogs went to Begley's house. Two dogs did not cooperate and wanted to stay home.

When Begley had all six dogs together at his home, including his own two pugs, he was told to evacuate.

But he waited until the last minute as he didn't want to let Gammie's other two dogs loose until he was sure he really had to leave.

Fortunately, Begley said, he didn't have to evacuate. He was told by officials that the fire had passed and he was no longer in danger.

"What went through my mind was, mayday, mayday," he said. "The firemen did a wonderful job. The police did wonderful job . . . (But) I'm sorry about the damage people had."

Although Begley's home along with at least five others were spared, one tropical-style home along Maalaea Bay Place was partially burned and a yellow multilevel home along Honoapiilani Highway was completely destroyed.

County officials reported that damages to the structures were estimated at $500,000, with another $100,000 in damages to personal property, including furnishings, two motorcycles and a BMW.

County spokeswoman Mahina Martin said one of the two homes that burned was occupied; she wasn't sure about the other. There were no injuries reported.

No one answered the door Monday at the partially damaged home on along Maalaea Bay Place, which is next to Honoapiilani Highway. But through one of the home's glass doors, fire damage was visible to the roof, where insulation material broke off from the ceiling and a light fixture was hanging awry.

A dozen Maui County firefighters along with state Division of Forestry and Wildlife workers were monitoring burned areas along the pali hillside Monday morning and afternoon.

The fire burned approximately 80 acres after it began shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday. According to the National Weather Service, winds in Kahului at the time were blowing from the northeast at 31 mph, with gusts of 39 mph. They were likely even stronger near Maalaea because of the venturi effect that accelerates winds as they pass through the valley.

The source of the fire was undetermined Monday, said Lt. Tim Gapero of the Maui Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division property crimes Section.

Gapero said a police investigator and a fire department investigator were assessing damages.

Fire crews were expected to monitor the area Monday night. The fire was declared under control at 6:30 a.m. Monday, the county said.

Residents on Maalaea Bay Place said Monday that they are grateful to Maui County firefighters who saved the majority of the homes in their neighborhood. The fire came as close as a few feet from some driveways, and it also burned the hills just yards away above Honoapiilani Highway.

"It was the fire guys who were the heroes," said Paul Gammie.

Gammie said on Monday that he wasn't home during the height of the fire, but when he returned late Sunday night, he could see the hard work that firefighters did to stop it from spreading to a section of dry shrub and kiawe trees in front of his place that could have led to further property damage.

"It didn't stop by accident. They did a terrific job," Gammie said.

Although his home was not in immediate danger like the two that were damaged, Gammie said, "it was still scary."

The fire completely shut down Honoapiilani Highway from the junction with North Kihei Road to Mile Post 11 near Ukumehame for about seven hours, cutting off the main access between West Maui and Central Maui. One lane was opened about 9:45 p.m., with police directing traffic in alternating directions. Both lanes were opened at 11:25 p.m.

Martin said the back roadway through Kahakuloa was opened Sunday night, with outbound traffic from West Maui allowed to travel through to Central Maui. However, Leo Murakami of Lahaina said a friend who tried to make a flight at Kahului Airport was blocked from using the road early in the evening. He retraced his steps and went the usual way when it reopened, but he missed his flight.

On the Waihee end of the road, Martin said only Kahakuloa residents were given access.

The closure prevented tourists from traveling to and from resorts on the west side. Delta Airlines pilots and flight attendants were airlifted via helicopter from the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort to Kahului Airport. Sunshine Helicopters flew the employees over.

Other crews were escorted through traffic, and a US Airways flight left about two hours late Sunday as it waited for crew and passengers, said Marvin Moniz, district airport manager.

Moniz said the airport housed around 30 passengers overnight, people who missed their flights because of the road closure. "They were happy they had a place to stay," Moniz said.

Maui Visitors Bureau Executive Director Terryl Vencl said that it appeared many visitors were able to find hotel rooms and other places to stay. Hotels and resorts were working together to assist stranded visitors on both sides of the island, including cruise ship passengers who had gone to West Maui for the day and could not get back to Kahului Harbor.

"We are a community partner. When we provide communication for visitors, we are also providing information for thousands of employees and residents in our community," Vencl said.

The fire also disrupted Father's Day business at Buzz's Wharf Restaurant. It closed at 4 p.m. for the safety of employees and customers, said Manager Rosie Robbins.

She said the telephones were not working and no one could get to the restaurant after police closed the road.

Robbins herself tried to get to the restaurant on Sunday afternoon but couldn't.

She said she was told that people were still eating between 3 and 4 p.m., while the fire burned not far away.

It had reached near the harbor before 3 p.m., since Maui Electric Co. reported that the fire caused a power outage to the homes in the area where the two houses were burned at about 2:57 p.m. Power was restored at 9:21 p.m., and there were no other outages.

The fire did not interfere with Kaheawa Wind Farm, but it did temporarily inconvenience a wind farm biologist who was working high above the burning area.

Zoe Kalipi of Makana Nui Associates/First Wind in Hilo said firefighters coordinated the biologist's retreat down the mountain away from the danger zone, and other employees moved a water truck away from the company's service area near the highway, but otherwise there was no difficulty.

The wind that made the fire so dangerous was good for the generators. Kalipi said she wasn't on Maui on Sunday but she had been on island a couple of days earlier, and the turbines were putting out close to their maximum. If the winds were as high as 40 knots, as an emergency responder estimated during the blaze, that was close to the point where the utility has to consider feathering its vanes to avoid damage.

A phone line at Buzz's Wharf was restored around 11:30 a.m. Monday. Robbins apologized to people who couldn't make it to their dinner reservations.

"We are so sorry to the people who were looking forward to it," she said.

Hawaiian Telcom spokeswoman Ann Nishida-Fry said some of the company's fiber-optic cables sustained damage from Sunday's fire, but there were no telephone outages, although 475 Internet users were affected in Napili, Wailuku and Lahaina.

Maalaea Bay Place residents reported no phone service on Monday, but it may not have been related to Hawaiian Telcom, as there is more than one telephone carrier on Maui.

Nishida said that as soon as the scene was safe, crews went to the damaged areas and were cutting out and replacing the damaged portion of the cable and splicing new pieces. The Internet service was restored Monday afternoon.

On Sunday, 35 firefighters were aided by two helicopters that made water drops on the fire. Water tankers and heavy equipment support were provided by Goodfellow Brothers and the county Department of Public Works.

* Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com. Staff Writer Harry Eagar contributed to this report.