Paia residents were forced to leave their homes or remain in thick smoke and ash when a brush fire barreled toward Baldwin Avenue midafternoon Saturday.

No injuries or damages occurred; however, the blaze, which started around 1 p.m. near old Maui High School, sparked power outages, a partial road closure, structure evacuations and reports of breathing problems.

As of nightfall Saturday, the fire had charred nearly 600 acres and was 30 percent contained, according to the county.

Teacher Gladys Saenz had a minute to grab her belongings and evacuate from her cottage at Doris Todd Christian Academy after the fire broke out.

“It’s sort of surreal. I’m wondering, is this really happening?” she said. “I don’t think I’ve had time to process it yet.”

Paia resident Rod Antone was driving around Skill Village midafternoon Saturday, powering his phone because electricity went out.

He said Skill Village residents weren’t able to leave the area because visibility was low.

“I can’t even see the road right now,” he said. “I should be able to see a tree over there — I can’t even see a tree.”

Antone added that people were standing on rooftops, watering their homes.

County spokesman Brian Perry said Maui police were responding to residents who reported breathing problems due to heavy smoke.

The brush fire started near Holomua Road around 1 p.m., according to Maui Fire Department.

Fed by strong winds and dry brush, the blaze began moving west toward Doris Todd Christian Academy, located across from Skill Village. Fire crews battled the blaze with the help of multiple tankers, along with Air 1 and Air 2 helicopters, MFD said in a release.

“It is big and it is running,” said Val Martin, MFD assistant chief, around 2 p.m.

National Weather Service reported an east wind of about 23 mph with gusts up to 32 mph in the area.

Maui Police Department closed Baldwin Avenue in Paia between the old Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar mill and Paia Elementary School around 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

It was reopened in both directions up to Skill Village by 5:30 p.m., but the mauka portion remained closed at nightfall.

A few structures were evacuated near Baldwin Avenue, according to MFD.

Maui Electric Co. said that around 2:30 p.m., about 450 customers in portions of Paia experienced a power outage when the circuit serving the area was de-energized to support emergency response efforts to the brush fire.

A half hour later, power was rerouted and restored to about 250 people. The remaining 200 were brought back online at 7:45 p.m., when it was safe for the circuit to be re-energized, according to MECO.

At 5:30 p.m., Perry said that the fire had burned 578 acres, but that no injuries or damages were reported.

Saenz lives with husband Mark in a cottage on Doris Todd property, where she teaches. She was out shopping at Costco when she stepped outside and saw smoke. A friend called and told her about the Paia fire.

She said flames could be seen when she was on Baldwin Avenue but thick smoke was in the area once she reached her cottage.

Her home and other area properties were evacuated, Saenz said.

“We were able to grab our stuff in literally less than a minute,” she said.

Saenz said they were trying to find their cat but couldn’t.