Aloha State Wildfires- 2003

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HONOLULU (AP) - A fire intentionally set by the Army to clear
training areas in Makua Valley was burning out of control on
Wednesday, covering three times the area intended, the Mary said.
As of midday, about 2,500 acres had burned, covering more than
half the military reservation on northwest Oahu, which has been the
subject of an environmental lawsuit.
The Army had planned a controlled burn of no more than 900 acres
Tuesday morning on land used for live-fire training, officials
said.
In announcing its plans, the Army said it had considered the
area's drought conditions and decided that timing was ideal because
"burns are more successful when conditions are dry."
But three hours later winds kicked up and the fire began to
spread. Witnesses said the fire swept through neighboring
Kahanahaiki Valley and shot up the north valley wall to Pea****
Flats.
The fire also jumped Farrington Highway in two places Tuesday,
stopping only at the sand on Makua Beach, said Waianae resident
William Aila Jr.
"Of the three valleys that make up Makua Military reservation,
I would say 70 percent is either burned or currently burning,
including all the way up to ridges where several areas of
biological concerns - endangered species - have been burned," he
said.
A sudden change in the speed and direction of the wind may have
caused the fire to burn out of control, said Capt. Steve Wollman, a
spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division.
The Army, Federal Fire Department and Honolulu Fire Department
were working to control the fire. Army helicopters were dumping
water on the blaze.
The fire brought angry reaction from community activists who
have opposed military use of the valley.
A coalition led by the American Friends Service Committee said
the fire destroyed many acres of habitat for native plants and
animals and may have killed or harmed critically endangered
species.
Kyle Kajihiro, a spokesman for the group, called the fire "a
disaster."
The group is calling for the military to end its training in
Makua and clean up and restore all "contaminated sites to the
safest possible level."
The Waianae Coast community group Malama Makua noted that
another "controlled" burn in June 1995 charred hundreds of acres
in Makua Valley.
"The Army said it couldn't possibly happen again, that they had
made improvements in firefighting. But this is even worse," the
group said in a statement.
The group said an October 2001 court order it obtained requires
the Army to prepare a comprehensive environmental impact statement
for live-fire training and related activities at Makua, such as
controlled burns.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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HONOLULU (AP) - A brush fire that got out of control and
scorched more than half of the Makua Military Reservation in
Leeward Oahu has been contained, an Army spokesman said.
Army helicopters were to drop water on remaining hot spots on
Thursday, said Capt. Steve Wollman of the 25th Infantry Division.
The Army set what was to be a controlled burn of 800-900 acres
Tuesday morning. But winds picked up speed and changed direction by
midafternoon and the fire got out of control.
The blaze eventually destroyed 2,500 acres, Wollman said. It
crossed Farrington Highway and burned 10 acres of public lands near
the ocean before it was contained late Wednesday.
Gina Shultz, assistant field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service in Hawaii, said the area that burned is known to
be the habitat of the endangered Oahu tree snail and the Oahu
elepaio, a native forest bird.
Makua and Kahanahaiki Valleys, which make up the military
reservation, are home to about 40 endangered plant species, Shultz
said.
A botanist and ornothologist from Fish and Wildlife were at
Makua with Army environmentalists on Thursday making an assessment
of the damage to flora and fauna, Shultz said.
The Army will not know until all the flames are extinguished
whether any of the valley's cultural or historical sites were
damaged, said Col. David Anderson, U.S. Army Hawaii Garrison
commander.
The assessment will be "a time-consuming process," Wollman
said.
The environmental group Earthjustice sued the Army in federal
court in December 2000 on behalf of the Waianae community group
Malama Makua to force the Army to prepare an environmental impact
statement. A year later, the Army agreed to do an EIS and was
allowed to use the training range as long as no rockets or other
incendiary devices were fired.
Earthjustice attorney David Henkin said the Army needs to modify
the EIS it is working on to justify continue live-fire operations
in Makua Valley and related activities such as Tuesday's controlled
burn.
The fire shows that the Army's fire management plan does not
work, Henkin said.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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HONOLULU (AP) - A brush fire along the Waianae Coast covered
some 1,700 acres before being brought under control Saturday.
For a time, the blaze that erupted Friday night threatened the
Air Force's Kaena Point Satellite Tracking Station.
Nearly 100 city and federal firefighters battled the blaze that
came to within 300 feet of the multimillion-dollar facility.
"The fire department had given directions to be prepared to
evacuate from certain buildings there at our facility, " Maj.
Kevin Lackey said. "But fortunately, we didn't have to do that."
Several helicopters, including some provided by the Army and the
Hawaii Air National Guard, were used to make water drops on the
flames that were fanned by stiff winds.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
It was located in a valley next to Makua Valley, where a July 22
brush fire scorched some 2,100 acres. That fire was caused by a
controlled burn that was blown outside the designated area by high
winds.
Meanwhile, a brush fire on Molokai was reported contained
Saturday night after covering a 3,000-acre area since Tuesday.
A single tanker and engine crew remained at the scene putting
out hot spots as other weary firefighters rested from a day of
battling the flames.
Strong winds spread the blaze after it broke out in a Hoolehua
field across from Molokai High School.
One farm structure was destroyed and several fences were
damaged. A firefighter was treated for back pain at Molokai General
Hospital on Thursday when a water hose blew and knocked him over.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)