3 brush fires under investigation
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Maui officials are investigating the causes of three brush fires that took place within six hours of each other on Saturday during high wind Red Flag Warnings in Central and North Maui.
"It's difficult to determine what started those fires ... unless something obvious is left behind," said Maui Fire spokesman Chris Dankis. "We were unable to find exactly where the fires started."
Maui has been experiencing drier-than-normal conditions in October in some areas, where rainfall was 4% of the normal average in Kihei and 5% at the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge in Maalaea, according to the National Weather Service.
The Valley Isle has gone through at least five days of wind advisories since last Thursday.
The first brush fire Saturday was first reported at 12:22 p.m. makai of Honoapiilani Highway near the Kahili Golf Course, officials said.
Smoke and reduced visibility shut down the northbound traffic between the Honapiilani and Kuihelani highways, and southbound traffic was turned around at the Maui Tropical Plantation.
The brush fire was brought under control at about 1:50 p.m. Saturday after burning four to five acres, officials said.
To fight the blaze, firefighters used four engines, two tankers and two helicopters, along with three private tankers.
A second brush fire started in northeast Maui at Kahakuloa above the state hunter check-in station at 3:45 p.m. Saturday and burned five acres.
The third brush fire took place on the Maui Veterans Highway outside of Kihei close to sunset and burned less than a quarter of an acre. The fire was extinguished in about 15 minutes.