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The Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge and Visitor Center were scheduled to reopen today after closing earlier this month because of a nearby wildfire that scorched about 9,000 acres of land in Central Maui.
In a joint announcement the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service said the fire came within about 10 yards of the Visitor Center but did not damage any facilities. They said that may have been due to the refuge’s native pollinator garden, part of a firebreak installed in 2017.
The refuge is a 700-acre sanctuary established by the USFWS in 1992 to protect the Hawaiian coot and Hawaiian stilt.
Maui police arrested a 28-year-old man for arson, but prosecutors have not charged him. The man remains in custody in lieu of $40,000 bail under suspicion of violating his probation for burglary and habitual property crime.