Molokai fire about 75 percent contained

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WAILUKU - Five days in, the 8,000-acre wildfire on Molokai was 70 percent to 80 percent contained as of Wednesday night, although it also had spread into the remote wooded mountains above Kaunakakai, said Gen Iinuma, Maui County Civil Defense administrator.

Two Hawaii Army National Guard CH-47 Chinook helicopters joined the fray Wednesday in the aerial assault against the blaze in the remote Makakupaia section of the Molokai Forest Reserve and in the Onini Gulch, both of which are east of the rural island's most populous town.

The wild-land fire once bracketed Kaunakakai and has consumed a Sherman-like path between Kalamaula and Kawela. So far, the only injury has been to a firefighter who needed to be hospitalized for treatment of smoke inhalation. An abandoned structure was destroyed and a garage was damaged since the blaze started around noon Saturday.

"A lot of our focus has been to maintain the perimeter, especially around Kalamaula and Kawela," Iinuma said. "So far, we've been able to do a decent job, and we plan to remain through the night to monitor the hot spots. We can see some of the fire glowing in the dark."

The work involves clearing firebreaks with the help of county Parks and Recreation and Public Works department bulldozers.

Iinuma said firefighters were tired but morale remained excellent. Crews were getting some sleep in fire stations and in what few hotel accommodations Molokai has.

Firefighters and residents alike continued to be concerned about fires flaring up as brush root systems burn and surface fuel such as pine needles and underbrush catch fire under the mountainous tree canopy. There's a lot of unburned brush within the perimeter, and the wind has been known to carry hot embers for miles, Iinuma said.

In addition to the helicopters and bulldozers, a vanguard that includes at least seven fire engines and four water tanker trucks is being coordinated by Maui County officials led by Battalion Chief James Kino. More than 60 firefighters came from the Maui Fire Department, National Park Service, state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the nonprofit Nature Conservancy, and fire and rescue teams from the Molokai Airport in Hoolehua.

Despite all the effort and resources being heaved at the flames, many residents remain nervous, said Maui County Council Chairman Danny Mateo, who holds the Molokai residency seat.

National Weather Service forecasters in Honolulu on Wednesday said they anticipated "another day of critical fire conditions" today, with little change to the high winds, warm weather and low humidity on the Friendly Isle.

Ground crews spent Wednesday extinguishing hot spots identified within the blackened 12 square miles so it would not reignite, Iinuma said. Firefighters would remain on scene for the unforeseeable future, he said.

"The firefighters did an excellent job," said Molokai Community Service Council Executive Director Karen Holt, who looked out her Kaunakakai office window and saw a rainbow among the clouds of smoke lingering in the air. "The fire has moved up into the mountains, and everyone is heartsick as they watch it burn into the forest. We're losing some of our precious watershed."

Iinuma said, though, that the fire hasn't expanded much.

"As far as our estimates can tell, it's pretty much contained within the 8,000-acre burn area" he said. "It's still being assessed as far as the area of operations in the upper elevations."

The mountains reach heights as high as about 4,000 feet just a few miles from sea level. Iinuma said the Chinooks were working in those hard-to-reach wild lands of the Molokai Forest Reserve.

Mateo said the fire has sustained itself mostly on brush, but also with kiawe trees, which burns so hot the wood is often used for barbecuing.

Molokai is an island of only 260 square miles and 7,200 people. In the past year or so, it's faced the closure of its largest employer, Molokai Ranch, an ongoing drought and water shortage as well as large proposed utility rate hikes from the ranch's owner, Molokai Properties Inc.

"I don't know how much more this island can endure right now," Mateo said. "Our community is living with smoke and ash, and it's quite fearful because the fire's not far away. People are edgy and weary."

They are also helpful and resilient.

Aunties have inundated the fire stations with homemade meals and treats for the firefighters, and private contractors have pitched in to build firebreaks with their own employees and equipment, Holt said.

Along with the giant Chinooks, smaller helicopters that have been fighting the fire since it started Saturday were redeployed, Iinuma said.

"We don't want to have too many helicopters in the same place," he said. "We're moving the assets around to support the ground crews."

The twin-engine, tandem-rotor Chinooks with their distinctive cigar-shaped profile are based with the Hawaii Army National Guard in Kaneohe, Oahu, and they bring advantages and disadvantages in fighting wildfires, Iinuma said.

The CH-47s carry 2,000-gallon loads of water and can dump much more water in fewer trips than the smaller helicopters outfitted with 100-gallon buckets of water, he said. However, the larger helicopters are not as maneuverable as the smaller aircraft, and the tremendous amount of downdraft created by the Chinooks' rotors can make the fire worse.

"If they don't do it right, they'll fan the fire," he said.

Iinuma said officials were concerned about a red-flag warning issued Wednesday by the National Weather Service for leeward areas of all islands. The warning means conditions are ripe for fires.

The warning was in effect until 5 p.m. Wednesday and could be reinstated.

* City Editor Brian Perry contributed to this story. Chris Hamilton can be reached at chamilton@mauinews.com.