A brush fire scorched 350 to 400 acres on both sides of a ridge behind Kalaheo High School and the adjoining Kalaheo Hillside neighborhood Tuesday, coming as close as 25 yards to some homes.
The fire also prompted police to close the H-3 freeway in both directions from Mokapu Saddle Road to Marine Corps Base Hawaii for several hours as smoke and ash wafted down the Kaneohe side of the hill.
Flames got to within 25 yards of some homes, said Capt. Terry Seelig, Honolulu Fire Department spokesman.
Winds gusting as strong as 25 mph pushed the fire up the flank of the hill, away from homes in the Kalaheo Hillside neighborhood.
The fire on the Kailua and Kaneohe sides of the ridge was mostly contained, Seelig said. H-3 was reopened late Tuesday night after firefighters removed their equipment.
Earlier in the evening, on the Kaneohe side of the ridge, firefighters stood by on H-3, prepared for the fire to reach them. Rough and steep terrain, as well as the distance fire hoses would have had to be dragged to reach the flames, made it difficult for firefighters to reach the fire on the Kaneohe side, Seelig said.
The focus during the first few hours was on the Kalaheo Hillside homes.
"Our immediate goal is to keep the fire from getting close to any of the homes," Seelig said at about 3 p.m. "The fortunate thing is the wind is blowing it the other way away from the homes. However, there is some back-burning, which is radiating heat, causing brush to slowly burn against the wind. That’s not too much of a challenge, but it is a concern."
The fire appeared to have begun at midday in the area behind Iliaina Street, between Kalaheo High School and Ilikupono Street.
Iliaina Street resident Monalisa Calabro said that at about 12:30 a Menehune Water delivery driver knocked on the door of her house, telling her to call 911 because there was a fire behind her house.
After calling authorities, Calabro watered down her wood fence and backyard to ward off any embers. The fire got to within 100 to 150 yards of her back fence. Firefighters used an empty lot next to her house to park their trucks and place hoses down on their way to the fire.
It was the second time in the past four or five months that a brush fire has hit the area, Calabro said. The last fire was concentrated closer to the high school, she said.
Longtime Kalaheo Hillside residents said the mountain is prone to brush fires, particularly when school is on break, but some said Tuesday’s fire was the closest they could remember a blaze approaching the homes.
Fern Fegley, who lives at Ilimano and Ilikupono streets, where much of the excitement was focused, said neighbors living in the home nearest the fire dropped off photo albums and other cherished items as police warned them to get ready to move at about 2:30 p.m.
"That will raise your blood pressure and raise the stress level," said Fegley, 86, who has lived in her home since 1983.
"This came closer to homes than ever before. It was scary, very scary."
Fegley said she went out to personally offer her thanks to the firefighters, and offered them water and Pepsi.
A curious effect of the strong winds was that while a strong smell of smoke permeated the air in much of Kaneohe, most of the homes in Kalaheo Hillside were spared the stench.
About eight fire companies, two tanker trucks and both fire helicopters fought the blaze, Seelig said.
