Hot spots from brush fire worry Keolu Hills residents

Residents of a Keolu Hills neighborhood in Enchanted Lake worried this evening that hot spots from a brush fire above their homes might flare up overnight.

“Yikes,” said Terry Luke, upon learning firefighters would leave the area. 

She pointed to glowing spots on the hills.

“There’s five over there and a couple over there,” she said.

She and her neighbors on Kuuna Place gathered in a driveway as firefighters were wrapping up. One neighbor was designated by the other neighbors to stay up all night to keep watch.

The brush fire was first reported at 3:30 p.m. and eight fire companies and a helicopter worked to battle the blaze, which consumed 5 to 10 acres, and was called 90 percent contained by 6:45 p.m., fire Capt. Terry Seelig said. Winds were light, and there were favorable conditions for fighting the fire, Seelig said.

Seelig said the edges of the burnt-out area were out, with just a few hot spots left within those burnt-out sections. Should residents have any concerns, he said, they could call the fire department and firefighters would return. 

But he said it would be too dangerous for firefighters to continue fighting the fire overnight in the steep terrain, and that the helicopter could not safely fly at night.

Police warned residents that they could evacuate voluntarily due to the heavy smoke, but only about a half-dozen were at home at the time the fire broke out.

Iniki Leialoha, 17, was home at the time with her 4-year-old sister, who was afraid the fire would burn their house down.

Leialoha said she smelled smoke, but had to cross the street to see the flames on the hillside above their next-door neighbor’s house.

The flames came within about 75 yards of the Leialoha home.

Leialoha called her father, who picked the two girls up. Leialoha grabbed clothes, valuables, including computers.

Her mother, Yaneth Leialoha, said, “We have a close-knit neighborhood,” and neighbors on Kuuna Place called her to inform her of the fire.

Luke said she raced home after her 6-year-old nephew, Masen, who was home with his father, called her at work, saying, “There’s a big fire behind our house.”

“I was worried about my animals — my cat, Kuro, and my Chihuahua, Shere Khan.”

Jeff Ventura, who lives against the hillside, hurried home after neighbors called him

“Ashes were falling into our pool and yard,” he said. “My wife evacuated all the kids and the dog.”

He called his brother, Jimmy, who built a house next door just nine months ago.

“We were concerned that the fire would come down, but the firefighters had it under control,” he said.

His wife, Lisa, said she retrieved her two children, who could see the blaze from school, and came home.

When they arrived home, they grabbed their valuables and important papers, closed up their windows and got out.

She said her 11-year-old daughter made sure to save her stuffed animals.

The Venturas said they were glad the winds, which usually sweep downslope toward their house, were not blowing hard.

A rock formation dubbed “Gorilla Rock” or “Monkey Rock,” which is part of a trail that starts at the “Pillbox,” is in the area. Some residents suspect the fire might have been started by hikers.

No cause was determined.