Firefighters continue to battle Big Island wildfire; 25,000 acres scorched
COURTESY DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
County, state and federal firefighters are responding to the Leilani fire, which grew on Hawaii island from 700 acres Wednesday night to 9,800 acres on Thursday.
COURTESY DEPARTMENT OF LAND AND NATURAL RESOURCES
Seven bulldozers are working to build fire lines around the Leilani Fire today.
UPDATE: 1:20 p.m.
Dozens of federal, state and county firefighters are continuing to battle the Leilani fire that has scorched approximately 25,000 acres as of today.
Seven bulldozers are working to establish fire lines around the blaze and five military helicopters from the U.S. Army’s Pohakuloa Training Area are dropping thousands of gallons of water on the fire, the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources said today.
So far, crews have contained about 30% of the wildfire.
The fire has moved onto PTA land after burning across Puu Anahula Game Management Area, a region bounded by the Daniel K. Inouye Highway, State Highway 190 and an 1859 lava flow, DLNR said.
Hawaii Branch Chief Steve Bergfeld of the Division of Forestry and Wildlife said gusts of upwards of 20 to 25 miles an hour are forecasted to occur later today.
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The Department of Land and Natural Resources said this evening that the Leilani fire that started at the Pohakuloa Training area grew several thousand acres today.
County, state and federal fire crews have been fighting the fire, which grew to nearly 10,000 acres this afternoon, fanned by high winds on Hawaii island.
The DLNR said that a fire line about two miles from Highway 190 is nearly complete, and bulldozers and helicopters today helped control the fire. Mauka areas will burn tonight and will be the focus of the firefighting effort Friday, DLNR said.
A better assessment of the size of the fire will be made Friday morning.
