Pukalani blaze spurs evacuations on eve of fire anniversary
KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
The Maui Fire Department said the Pukalani fire Wednesday was 100% contained as of 5:41 p.m.
KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
Maui Fire Department personnel and Maui police officers secured the area near the brush fire.
KEVIN KNODELL / KKNODELL@STARADVERTISER.COM
A helicopter flies above Pukalani as it works to extinguish a brush fire that was approximately 2 acres.
PUKALANI, Maui >> A brush fire just a day before the island commemorates the one-year anniversary of the deadly Aug. 8 wildfires prompted isolated evacuations that made for frayed nerves before it was quickly brought under control.
The Maui Fire Department said the Pukalani fire Wednesday was 100% contained as of 5:41 p.m. The Maui Emergency Management Agency lifted an evacuation order for residents off Akalani Loop and Kalialani Circle.
MFD said the preliminary estimate of the fire size was 2 acres. No injuries or structural damages were reported and residents were allowed to return to their homes.
The evacuation notice was issued at 3:28 p.m., according to MEMA. MFD and Maui police officers had gone door-to-door in the affected area and evacuees were directed to the Hannibal Tavares Community Center in Pukalani.
“For the safety of the public, homes on Akalani Loop and Kalialani Circle are evacuated,” the notice said. “No other evacuations at this time. If you feel you and your family’s safety is impacted, you should evacuate now.”
Power was out for about 4,600 Hawaiian Electric customers in Upcountry Maui as crews fought the blaze.
Don't miss out on what's happening!
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It's FREE!
MFD reported the brush fire at 2:55 p.m. in a gulch off Palalani Street in Pukalani.
At about 3:45 p.m., officials said firefighters were “slowly getting a handle on the fire. It is in a deep gulch with very steep access.”
Pukalani resident Melissa Abellanida was watching her parents’ house, where she grew up, as the fire burned in the nearby gulch.
She told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that it was “only a matter of time before there was a fire on the gulch.”
Abellanida said a brush fire on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the Aug. 8 wildfires felt “ominous.” And she was thinking of her cousins who lost their home in Lahaina.
However, she said, Maui authorities acted quickly on Wednesday’s wildfire.
Maui police were on the scene in a nearby neighborhood keeping onlookers back and advising people to be “ready to evacuate.”
Fire officials has dispatched three engines, one wildland engine, one tanker and two aircraft, along with one Alpha Inc. tanker, to the fire.
