Fire blankets South Maui with smoke
Smoke billows from a fire at Hammerhead Metal Recycling as Maui Fire Dept. trucks arrive Saturday afternoon. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
A firefighter atop a ladder truck directs a stream of water onto burning recyclables.
Flames shoot from a stack of crushed vehicles.
Smoke billows from a fire at Hammerhead Metal Recycling as Maui Fire Dept. trucks arrive Saturday afternoon. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
A firefighter atop a ladder truck directs a stream of water onto burning recyclables.
Flames shoot from a stack of crushed vehicles.
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Firefighters from three stations, including Kahului, Wailea and Lahaina, responded to a fire at Hammerhead Metal Recycling in Puunene Saturday that produced a towering cloud of acrid blue-gray smoke that fouled the air in South Maui as far away as Makena. The fire occurred in a pile of materials that were reportedly in the process of being recycled. Cars and trucks crushed into cubes could be seen spouting flames as water poured down from hoses mounted atop the ladders of a pair of ladder trucks. Maui Fire officials said the blaze was first reported at 10:36 a.m. and extinguished before midnight. There were no reports of injury or damage to equipment or buildings. The fire was confined to the Hammerhead facility.
The Hawaii Department of Health Clean Air Branch issued a smoke advisory warning at-risk residents and visitors to take precautionary measures or to leave the downwind area. People in Kihei and Makena, including some attending high school water polo and golf matches, said the smoke smelled strongly like plastics burning.