Traffic accident kills 1 on Garden Island
A 56-year-old Anahola man was killed and four others injured Saturday in a two-car crash on Kuhio Highway in Lihue. Kauai Police identified the man who died as Laurey Fernandez.
According to police, a Ford Explorer in which Fernandez was a passenger was heading north on the highway, near the Wailua Golf Course, when it crossed the center line and crashed into a Dodge pickup truck.
A Kauai Police Department news release indicated that there were six people in the Explorer, including the driver, and that the passengers were taken to Wilcox Hospital along with the driver of the truck. It was not indicated which four of these people were injured.
The highway was closed in both directions after the crash, which occurred at 2:47 p.m.
Fernandez’s death is the sixth traffic fatality on Kauai this year.
Blaze in the brush shuts 2 lanes of H-1
Two Waianae-bound lanes on H-1 freeway were closed Saturday while firefighters battled a small brush fire near Pearl Country Club in Aiea.
The half-acre fire started about 10:45 a.m. between the Kaamilo Street overpass and the golf course. Motorists could see smoke from as far as Waipahu.
Honolulu fire Capt. Rick Karasaki said a couple of freeway lanes were closed because of the smoke and to make room for firefighters to work on the blaze.
Firefighters sent a heavy response with four engines, two tankers and a fire helicopter to stop the flames from spreading to nearby homes, which were never threatened, Karasaki said. A battalion captain at the scene said the blaze was difficult to reach because it was burning in a gulch.
Karasaki said firefighters brought the fire under control in about an hour and were mopping up. A cause has not been determined.
All freeway lanes were opened by 11:45 a.m., police said.
Hikers helped from Maunawili, Makapuu
Honolulu fire-rescue personnel rescued three hikers Saturday in two separate incidents on Oahu.
At about 12:55 p.m., firefighters hiked on the Maunawili Falls Trail and located a 55-year-old man who had suffered back injuries, said Honolulu fire Capt. Rick Karasaki. The hiker was then airlifted to Maunawili Park, where paramedics then transferred him to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries about 1:45 p.m., Karasaki said.
It is unclear how he suffered his injuries.
About 2:50 p.m., two teenagers were airlifted from the tide pool area along the east side of the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail after they were knocked down by a wave and suffered head injuries and multiple scrapes and bruises, Karasaki said.
A boy and a girl, both 17, were dropped off at the Makapuu Lighthouse parking lot, where they were transported by paramedics to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, he said.
Girl nearly drowns in swimming pool
City paramedics responded Saturday at about 5 p.m. to a near-drowning involving a 3-year-old girl in Red Hill.
The girl was face down in a swimming pool at an Ala Kapuna Street address for 30 seconds to a minute before family members brought her out of the pool and began CPR, a city spokeswoman said.
Paramedics took the girl to Kapiolani Medical Center in serious condition.
