Federal wildland firefighters, including California-based Hotshots, on Friday contained a fire burning for 10 days in a national wildlife refuge above Mililani Mauka.
Six Hotshots, an elite group of firefighters from Mendocino National Forest in Northern California, and nine other wildland firefighters from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park took over firefighting duties from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the Honolulu Fire Department. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The fire, which began Jan. 20, destroyed 460 acres of pristine native forest in Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge.
The firefighters worked on the ground Friday, breaking up smoldering large tree branches that have potential to reignite during the heat of the day, said refuge manager Jared Underwood.
The firefighters also requested water drops as needed due to the steep terrain.
"Hotshots bring a high level of fitness and expertise to wildfire management" and work in remote and rugged terrain, their website says. Interagency Hotshot Crews are employed by the U.S. Forest Reserve and the National Park Service, among other entities and agencies.
The area scorched by fire was dominated by native koa and native uluhe fern, Underwood said. The forest serves as habitat for endangered birds, the Hawaiian hoary bat, several rare and endangered plants and Oahu tree snails.
An area resident reported Wednesday that thick smoke was visible from the Mililani Mauka subdivision, a half-mile to a mile from the fire.
DLNR, which contracted helicopters, assisted by the Fire Department, relied heavily on aerial water drops during the first week of the fire.
On Jan. 24 the state turned over the fire operations to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuge and continued helicopter use.
As of Friday a total of $149,000 was spent on helicopter use to fight the fire. It costs about $900 an hour to contract a private helicopter for water drops, a state official said.
Underwood said the fire was contained at about 3 p.m. Friday, but the Hotshots will remain another five to seven days to monitor the fire.
He said it is unusual for the Hotshots to assist in Hawaii fires, which tend to be smaller than mainland fires. The firefighting group’s resources were available, in part, because mainland wildfires typically erupt during summer months.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife is now developing a plan to restore the burned area, including monitoring for invasive plants taking over the area.
"Our forests in Hawaii are not fire-adapted, and fires are very infrequent," he said. "We’re concerned that the native species could be replaced by non-native species before they have a chance to come back."
"If the natives are not coming back, we will consider replanting," but some areas are very steep and "we may do more harm than good" by inadvertently causing erosion or introducing invasives, Underwood said.
