MAUI COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF FIRE AND PUBLIC SAFETY
First responders Friday were alerted to a brush fire near Stable Road and Hana Highway, near Kahului Airport’s runways.
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Five Maui-bound airplanes had to be diverted to Honolulu on Friday after smoke from a nearby brush fire briefly closed Kahului Airport, the state Department of Transportation said.
DOT said the closure lasted about 30 minutes shortly before noon and was directed by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Kahului Airport resumed full operations a little after noon, DOT said.
The Maui County Department of Fire and Public Safety reported that first responders were alerted to a brush fire near Stable Road and Hana Highway at 11:01 a.m. The area is near one far end of Kahului Airport runways.
Five fire engine companies responded to the alarm along with two fire tankers and Maui’s Air 1 fire helicopter, a news release from the county agency said. Maui Fire and Public Safety also said it received assistance from DOT Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting units and water tankers from farm company Mahi Pono.
“Crews arrived on scene and found a working brush fire in very dry and light brush that was spreading very rapidly due to strong winds,” the county agency said.
By about 11:50 a.m. the fire, estimated to have burned 30 acres, was reported to be about 90% contained, and the county agency said crews would remain on-scene to conduct mop-up operations. A cause of the fire was not immediately known to first responders.
