Brush fires on Hawaii island periodically closed a 20-mile stretch of Mamalahoa Highway, which links Kona and Waikoloa.

The fires prompted the initial closure of Highway 190 on Monday afternoon. After two fires — a half-acre blaze at mile marker 23, and a 500-acre fire at mile marker 14 — were contained, the highway was re-opened at noon Tuesday, At 4 p.m., as a new brush fire emerged at mile marker 16, the highway closed again, according to Hawaii County Fire Battalion Chief Gerald Kosaki.

It was reopened at about 10 p.m.

The latest fire, which had burned about 40 acres, was moving at a slow pace and not posing a threat to residences as of Tuesday.

“Luckily, the wind died down,” Kosaki said.

Workers from the state Department of Forestry and Wildlife assisted Hawaii County firefighters at the scene of the fires.