UPDATE: Noon

After marking the one-year anniversary of the wildfire that devastated the town of Lahaina, Maui County officials are responding to another growing wind-whipped wildfire on Crater Road.

“On the brink of our one-year anniversary of our island’s wildfires I realize as a community we’re experiencing many different emotions,” said Maui Mayor Richard Bissen during the news conference. “Any fire can be very concerning and distressing to many of us. I want to assure you that the county and state are collectively working together to maximize our resources and most importantly to keep our communities safe.”

The Crater Road blaze is currently 15% contained after burning 420 acres as of 11 a.m. today.

“The primary focus for our multiple ground and air crews remains on stopping progress toward residences and building control lines,” Bissen said. “At this time, no evacuation orders have been issued. However, we continue to encourage the residents that live above Kekaulike and Haleakala highways between Upper Kimo and Waipoli roads — to prepare for potential evacuation and to monitor your radio, TV and mobile devices for official information.”

Twelve staff members have been evacuated from Haleakala National Park as a precaution.

Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura urged area residents within the vicinity of the Crater Road wildfire to remain vigilant for alerts and notifications in the event of a potential evacuation.

“We need the community to remain vigilant because fire behavior changes, which can mean that the fire is going to change directions on us, change its speed and rate of growth,” he said. “So we need everybody to just be vigilant and pay attention to the notifications that were mentioned so that if we need to notify you to evacuate that you’re aware.”

Ventura said the wildfire is on “a small footprint” uphill but crews are working to prevent the blaze from spreading past milepost 7 to area residences.

Ventura said five aircraft are on scene, conducting water drops with portable water supplies. Five bulldozers are also on scene creating fire lines, mostly in the direction of the homes.

“Up on Crater Road, we don’t have water supply,” Ventura said. “We are supplying water to five aircraft right now in various portable water supplies. A lot of the tankers we’re using from our partners are shuttling water up the highway to these locations.”

Ventura said the U.S. National Guard has also been deployed, and has positioned their assets, including one Black Hawk and one Chinook helicopter, at Kahului Airport, should the need for them arise. He warned that weather conditions, which were very windy with fairly high humidity on Wednesday night, can change rapidly.

No structures have been impacted and no injuries have been reported, Ventura said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

“I would like to mahalo our emergency personnel and community partners who are doing everything within their power to manage this fire,” said Bissen. “We are making process every hour and the safety of our community is of the utmost importance. I encourage everyone to continue to remain calm and to continue to monitor this situation.”

Residents can sign up for MEMA alerts and find updates at MauiCounty.gov/MEMA. Updates will also be provided on Maui County’s official Facebook and Instagram pages.

EARLIER COVERAGE

Maui County officials are holding a press conference at noon today to discuss the latest updates to the wildfire that has burned more than 400 acres on Crater Road.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen today signed an emergency proclamation in response to the Crater Road fire. Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, as acting governor, early this morning signed an emergency proclamation authorizing the activation of the Hawaii National Guard for disaster relief and prohibiting price gouging on Maui, while also prohibiting unsolicited real estate purchase offers in Lahaina and Kula.

RELATED: Maui wildfire 15% contained, area residents advised to prep for ‘potential evacuation’

Speakers include Bissen and Luke along with Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura and Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Amos Lonokailua-Hewett.