Fire forces planes to change course

At least three flights heading to Kauai were diverted to Oahu on Saturday because of heavy smoke from a brush fire behind Lihue Airport.

The brush fire began about 8:20 a.m. and was brought under control about 1:20 p.m., a Kauai County spokeswoman said.

State and county firefighters were battling the fire.

Tim Sakahara, Department of Transportation spokesman, said three Lihue-bound flights were diverted to Honolulu Airport. At least one was arriving from the mainland.

Sakahara said state workers were using bulldozers to construct fire breaks around the airport.

He said airport operations had returned to normal by 2 p.m.