Fisherman dies near Maalaea Harbor
Maui police identified a 57-year-old fisherman who was found facedown in the water at Maalaea Harbor Saturday morning as Gary Y. Ibara of Wailuku.
The man’s wife reported that Ibara left home about 7:30 p.m. Friday to pick sea cucumbers off the seawall at the harbor, a Maui police spokesman said. After Ibara didn’t return home at the planned time, his wife went to the harbor to search for him and found his gear near a wall, and his slippers and pole net floating at the water’s edge.
She called for help about 3:45 a.m. Saturday.
Maui firefighters responded, and a rescue crew on two personal watercraft searched the ocean, a fire department spokesman said.
The crew found Ibara floating facedown about 200 yards from the seawall about 5:30 a.m. and brought his body back to Maalaea boat ramp.
Police said the death is not suspicious.
Big Isle blaze leaves 11 people homeless
A fire in Kaumana on Hawaii island caused "major damage" to a home and left 11 people homeless Friday night.
Firefighters responded to 10 Manaolana Place near Waianuenue Avenue at about 7:15 p.m. and found more than half of the two-story house ablaze with flames spreading from an enclosed garage to the main structure, Hawaii County firefighters said.
Firefighters said eight adults and three children were displaced by the fire. A 25-year-old man suffered minor injuries in the fire.
Thirteen firefighters extinguished the fire in about an hour. Damage was estimated at $250,000 to the home and its contents, including three vehicles.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.
The Red Cross responded to help the home’s residents.
Brush fire near Village Park flares again
Honolulu firefighters returned to the Village Park area Saturday morning to battle a hard-to-reach brush fire that flared up overnight.
Firefighters were first called to the area Friday around 7 p.m. and spent nearly three hours containing a brush fire that blackened about 30 acres. The fire was in a steep area of the gulch between Waikele and Village Park.
The fire flared up around 10 a.m. Saturday and spread along the walls of the gulch, consuming about 20 additional acres before firefighters brought it under control around 3:30 p.m., according to HFD spokesman Capt. Carlton Yamada.
No structures were threatened and no injuries were reported. The cause of the fire remains undetermined.
