Teenage boy held in suspected Lihue brush fire arson

Kauai police today announced that on Monday afternoon they detained a 14-year-old Lihue boy suspected of arson in connection with a small brush fire on Kalepa Ridge in Lihue.

He was allegedly one of two teenage boys seen leaving the scene of the fire by fire officials and other witnesses, police said. The other teen was not a suspect and not detained, a county spokeswoman said.

The brush fire at 2:26 p.m. Monday burned less than 1,000 square feet of a vegetated area, known for dirt bike trails. Firefighters and Air 1 arrived at 2:50 p.m. and made water drops to extinguish the blaze, police said in a news release Thursday.

Kauai Police Chief Darryl Perry said in a written statement that while there were no injuries and the fire was quickly contained, “it does not minimize the extent of damages brush fires can cause.”