Big Isle fires keep hunting area closed
Portions of the Puu Anahulu Game Management Area in North Kona will be closed to hunters this weekend while state Department of Land and Natural Resources workers continue to mop up three brush fires that destroyed more than 700 acres earlier this week.
DLNR said bird hunting will not be allowed in the mauka portion of hunting unit E in the game management area. The access gate will be closed to public use.
No structures were damaged as a result of the fires.
The first fire was reported at 3:33 p.m. Monday on the mauka side of Hawaii Belt Road, also known as Route 190, in the area of the 14-mile marker in Kailua-Kona. That brush fire consumed 588 acres.
On Tuesday at 3:54 p.m., Kona police and fire personnel responded to a report of a brush fire on the mauka side of Hawaii Belt Road in the area of the 16-mile marker in the area of Puanahulu. The fire spread from the mauka side of the roadway and headed south in the direction of the Puulani Estates Subdivision, burning about 150 acres of vacant land.
A third brush fire was reported in the area of the 23-mile marker, also on Hawaii Belt Road. Fire personnel were able to quickly extinguish that fire, which burned about a quarter of an acre.
Hawaii County police are continuing to investigate the cause of the fires. Anyone with information regarding the incidents is asked to contact Detective Levon Stevens at 326-4646, ext. 226. Tipsters who prefer to remain anonymous may call CrimeStoppers at 961-8300 in Hilo or 329-8181 in Kona.
College aid available for Native Hawaiians
Workshops will be held statewide to provide Native Hawaiians with information about college scholarships and financial aid resources.
The University of Hawaii says the effort is part of a statewide initiative to bring Native Hawaiian scholarship opportunities to underserved communities. The university says it is partnering with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, GEAR UP Hawaii, Pacific Financial Aid Association and the Native Hawaiian Education Association.
The workshops are open to high school students, parents, teachers and anyone interested in learning about the criteria and eligibility requirements for financial aid resources available to Native Hawaiians.
The first workshop is scheduled for Tuesday at Kauai Community College.
A schedule is available at www.hawaii.edu/aha.
NEIGHBOR ISLANDS
Man suffers head injuries in car accident
A 24-year-old Lihue man was airlifted to the Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu on Thursday night after sustaining head injuries in a traffic accident near Fish Express in Lihue.
He was transferred from the intensive care unit Friday morning after his condition improved, according to a Kauai County news release.
The man was a passenger in a black Nissan pickup truck that was traveling north on Kuhio Highway at about 11 p.m. Thursday when he reportedly fell out of the truck and sustained head injuries.
He was taken to Wilcox Hospital by a female driver, 21, of Lihue. From there he was transported by air ambulance to Queen’s.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Blaze in Kau leads to closure of Highway 11
A fire prompted the closure of Highway 11 in Kau just south of Kona on Hawaii island on Friday.
Police said the road near mile marker 14 was closed Friday for about an hour, then one lane was reopened at 4:34 p.m.
The road was closed after branches touching electrical wires caught fire near the road, police said.
House fire extinguished after 2 hours
No one was injured in a fire that burned a house in Pahoa on Hawaii island Friday.
The fire at Hawaiian Beaches took about two hours to extinguish, after the initial alarm at 2:50 p.m., authorities said.
Details on the fire were not immediately available.
