Fire destroyed about 12 acres of brush near Haleiwa Elementary on Thursday, along with the pitched-tent encampments of about 10 homeless people along the shore of Kaiaka Bay.

The school and several residences on the Waialua end of the bay were evacuated as the fire crept close.

Called in initially at 11:08 a.m., the blaze was declared under control at 12:30 p.m., said Honolulu fire Capt. Terry Seelig. He said the fire was intentionally set and appears to have started near the homeless encampment.

Crews worked through the afternoon, putting out hot spots in the thick brush where haole koa, volunteer cane and weed grass reached 6 feet or higher.

Raymond Lamoya, among those living in the camp, said there was only minimal damage to his belongings because he had created a wide firebreak.

Before summer began, he said, "I wen’ cut the grass back and dig one ditch."

As a result, only the top of one tent appears to have been damaged by embers, he said.

Lamoya said firefighters were "doing what they can" to fight the fire.

Waialua resident Tracy Magno said several friends living in the homeless encampment lost many of their belongings and walked away in disgust.

Haleiwa Elementary’s 183 students evacuated from school around 11:15 a.m. to the far end of Kaiaka State Park next door.

Seelig said school officials closed the school voluntarily, and largely because of smoke concerns.

"It was a good call," he said.

The school sent out a mass message to parents informing them to go to the park to pick up their children due to the hazard caused by the fire.

About two-thirds of the students had gone home by about 12:30.

Waialua resident Jessica Fernandez was with out-of-town guests in Honolulu when she got a voice mail on her cellphone to pick up her son, Kevin, immediately because the school had been evacuated. It did not tell her the reason, she said.

Thursday’s fire was just makai of a blaze that scorched about 10 acres at Haleiwa Beach Road and Paalaa Road on Monday and then flared up again Wednesday.