Maui firefighters rescued a 37-year-old man who suffered serious injuries after he apparently fell from a 75-foot shoreline cliff near Hookipa Beach Park late Sunday afternoon.
Firefighters were alerted by the victim’s friend, who said he saw the victim near the cliff’s edge a half-hour earlier but was unable to locate him at the time of the call.
A crew from the Paia fire station hiked down the cliff and found the man at the bottom.
Fire officials said the man resisted initial attempts to treat and move him. However, he was eventually airlifted from the site and transferred to the care of waiting paramedics.
He was subsequently transported in serious condition to Maui Memorial Medical Center.
Woman sent to hospital after pool incident
A 31-year-old woman was in critical condition Saturday after she was found at the bottom of a condominium swimming pool in Wailea, Maui firefighters said.
No one saw what happened to the woman before she was found underwater in the pool at the Wailea Fairway Villas at about 8:45 p.m., a Maui Fire Department spokesman said.
The woman had been swimming with friends. People nearby brought her up to the pool deck and began CPR.
Firefighters and paramedics continued lifesaving treatment, and paramedics took her to Maui Memorial Medical Center in critical condition.
Brush blaze sparked by ceremonial fire
An ember from a ceremonial fire ignited a small brush fire Sunday in Kula, Maui firefighters said.
The fire began at about 11:20 a.m. about a mile mauka of Bully’s Burgers, at mile marker 18, on Piilani Highway, a Maui Fire Department spokesman said.
Kanaio residents knocked down the active flames, and about a half-acre was still smoldering when firefighters arrived. No structures were damaged.
Firefighters said the ember ignited dry grass downwind, causing flames to come within 25 feet of a dwelling.
Grass hit by flames twice on Maui
Maui fire crews put out two Upcountry grass fires Saturday, one of them likely set by a man on a mower.
At 1:16 p.m. Makawao firefighters were dispatched to a report of smoke on Piiholo Road in Olinda, the Fire Department said by email Sunday. On arrival, crews found a 50-by-50-foot area of grass burning in a pasture 100 yards from the road.
The fire was extinguished at 1:49 p.m. No homes were threatened and no injuries reported. The cause was undetermined.
At 2:05 p.m. Kula and Makawao firefighters, along with a water tanker from Kahului, responded to a brush fire on Ikena Kai Place in Omaopio. Crews found just less than a half-acre of high grass burning about 50 feet from a house.
The fire was out by 2:55 p.m.
The property owner said he was riding a power mower when he noticed the grass smoking behind him. He was unable to stomp it out.
Makakilo conflagration is extinguished
Honolulu firefighters extinguished a small brush fire in Makakilo on Sunday afternoon.
The 2,500-square-foot fire started at about 1:40 p.m. near the Makakilo Drive onramp to the Waianae-bound lanes of the H-1 freeway, said Honolulu Fire Department Capt. David Jenkins.
Firefighters brought the fire under control at 1:47 p.m. and extinguished it just before 2:30 p.m.
Pedestrian struck by car and injured
A 47-year-old man was seriously injured when he was struck by a car while crossing Farrington Highway near Laaloa Street in Honokai Hale.
The incident was reported at 8:44 p.m. Friday.
The man was transported by paramedics to a hospital.
Police targeting drivers who text
WAILUKU >> Maui police will issue citations to drivers who use cellphones while driving through April 13 as part of a national campaign.
Officers issued 764 citations during last year’s “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” campaign.
State law says drivers using mobile devices in school and construction zones can earn fines up to $347. Mobile devices include electronics like tablet computers, digital cameras and gaming devices.
Police say drivers should wait to use electronic devices until they’ve pulled over or reached their destination.
Big Isle jolted again by quake
A small earthquake shook Hawaii island Saturday, the second offshore quake in four days.
The magnitude-3 temblor struck at 10:32 p.m. about 40 miles west of South Point at a depth of nearly 70 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
One person told the agency they felt the trembling in Kahului.
On Wednesday a small earthquake rocked the submarine volcano of Loihi.
The magnitude-3.8 quake struck at 3:10 a.m. well inside the seamount, 22 miles southeast of Pahala, Hawaii island.
The epicenter was 26.5 miles deep, according to the USGS.
The active volcano rises to within 3,000 feet of the ocean’s surface. Michael Garcia, a University of Hawaii-Manoa geology professor, said there has been little seismic activity recently at Loihi, so the quake likely occurred as a result of the earth adjusting to the weight of Loihi, about the size of Mount Saint Helens in Washington state.
