Honolulu firefighters wrapped up operations Friday night on a wildfire in Waianae Valley, declaring it fully contained.
About 30 firefighters toiled throughout the day to control the fire, the third in Waianae Valley this week, and a fire helicopter made water drops before operations were ended at about 6 p.m., said Honolulu fire Capt. Terry Seelig.
He said the fire near Piliuka Place burned sideways along a mountain valley wall on Friday and didn’t burn toward the foot of the mountain, where it would have threatened property. The cause of the fire was undetermined.
Some 60 firefighters responded after the fire started at about 3 p.m. Thursday and prevented it from reaching about eight houses or farm lots near Piliuka Place, Seelig said. Firefighters stayed overnight Thursday to monitor the fire, which was only about 150 acres in size by 8 p.m.
Area residents were warned they should prepare to evacuate, but none did, and the Red Cross closed a shelter at Waianae District Park at 9:30 p.m.
Wildfires kept city, state and federal firefighters busy this week, burning more than 2,200 acres on the Leeward Coast.
The other major fire began Monday afternoon at Radford Street and Kolekole Road on Naval Magazine Lualualei and had consumed nearly 1,200 acres. It spread into the areas bordering the Waianae Kai Forest Reserve.
Cleanup in Lualualei is being done by federal and state firefighters.
Federal firefighters contained 98 percent of the fire on Lualualei by Friday afternoon, said Navy spokeswoman Agnes Tauyan. She said federal firefighters will post two fire companies at Lualualei through Monday and keep a 24-hour presence for a couple of weeks before re-evaluating the situation.
Federal fire investigators are still trying to determine what caused that fire.
The same fire burned about 400 acres in the Waianae Kai Forest Reserve.
State firefighters contained 75 percent of that area by Friday, said Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the Department of Land and Natural Resources. On Friday a state-contracted helicopter and nine state firefighters worked to keep the fire from reaching the top of the ridge where endangered plants and native tree snails are found, she said.
Crews also pumped water from a forest stream to extinguish stubborn hot spots, and a bulldozer built up a firebreak. State firefighters plan to continue fighting the fire this weekend.
The fire affected some native species of aalii in the reserve, which is also home to native koa and sandalwood trees, Ward said.
Seelig said Thursday’s fire is unrelated to Monday’s Lualualei fire or a 3-acre brush fire that burned near Piliuka Place on Wednesday. The cause of Wednesday’s fire was undetermined.
