A spate of suspicious sugar cane field fires in Central Maui within a month has resulted in the loss of an estimated $182,500 to the sugar crop, firefighters said Tuesday.
Although the cause of the fires remains undetermined, fire officials believe the fires may have been intentionally set because there are no obvious points of ignition, the county said in a news release.
Eight unintended cane fires from May 19 to Tuesday have scorched 42.5 acres of fields belonging to Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. on Maui, which has been experiencing drought conditions.
Police have begun investigating several of these fires as first-degree criminal property damage cases, the county said in its release.
The Maui Fire Department is asking for the public’s help in identifying any individuals who may be responsible for the following fires:
» Tuesday: 1:40 p.m. along North Kihei Road near the parking triangle
» Sunday: 12:45 p.m. along Hana Highway, across from Mama’s Fish House. Flames got close to homes in Kuau and forced the evacuation of the restaurant.
» Friday: 12:11 a.m. along Kuihelani Highway, about 200 yards east of the Maui Lani Parkway Intersection
» Thursday: 11:44 p.m. along Pulehu Road, about a mile above the landfill
» Thursday: 10:57 p.m. near Honoapiilani Highway south of the restaurant called Waikapu On 30 in Wailuku
» June 1: 10 p.m. near Kamaaina Road and Mokulele Highway
» June 1: 8:23 p.m. along Holomua Road in two locations 150 feet apart
» May 19: at 2:35 p.m. along Holomua Road near Makawao Union Church
Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar’s parent company, Alexander & Baldwin, declined to comment but did confirm that all the fields belong to Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar.
Maui fire spokesman Lee Mainaga said the island is going through a drought, making conditions ripe for brush fires as well as such cane fires. “What little rain we had, the vegetation grew. Now there are drought conditions.”
Police ask anyone with information about the fires to call CrimeStoppers at 242-6966.
