Crews battle four brush blazes; at least one was set

KAHULUI - Firefighters responded to four brush fires Saturday, one intentionally set and two others raising suspicion by authorities.

The cause of a a fourth fire, which took about four hours to extinguish in a gulch below the golf course in Pukalani, was undetermined. That fire burned about an acre between 1:40 a.m., when firefighters were called to the scene, and 5:30 a.m. Sunday, when it was extinguished.

Battalion Chief Frank Tam said the Kahului tanker had to access the burning gulch by driving through sugar cane roads. Firefighter crews from Makawao and Kula traveled to the brush fire by driving through a residential area and then through the golf course fairways to reach the fire.

No one was injured in any of the four fires, and no value on the burned brush was assessed.

Tam identified the intentionally set blaze as occurring off Waiko Road in Waikapu at 11:46 a.m. Saturday. The fire was extinguished by firefighters from Kahului and Wailuku an hour later. It destroyed about a quarter of an acre of brush.

Authorities found remnants of fireworks on the ground and concluded it was set on purpose, but who did it had not been determined, according to Tam.

The two fires that were considered to be of a suspicious nature occurred within five minutes of each other in the same vicinity at Haliimaile Road and Baldwin Avenue and then on Kaluanui Road. In each instance, one fire called in at 11:25 a.m. and the other at 11:30 a.m., about a quarter-acre of brush was burned. Crews responding to the two nearby fires came from Makawao, Kula and Paia, with an assist from the Kahului tanker.

The fires were put out within 15 minutes of the firefighters' arrival. Tam said evidence of arson was not found, but authorities determined the fires were suspicious because they came so close together.