UPDATE: Road has been reopened.
Advisory: Road closure of Route 190, from the Old Saddle Road intersection to the Waimea Airport Road intersection
Dear Len Winkler,
The Hawai’i Police Department reports a temporary road closure of Route 190, from the Old Saddle Road intersection (6mp) to the Waimea Airport Road intersection (2mp) in Waimea due to a brush fire. The Hawai’i Police Department requests that motorist use alternate routes such Queen Kaahumanu Highway, Waikoloa Village Road, and Kawaihae Road. The Hawai’i Police Department also advises all motorist to use extreme caution while driving in these areas as visibility may be hampered due to the smoke. Please drive with Aloha.
Police are investigating the cause of a runaway brush fire Friday afternoon in the Puukapu farm lots in Waimea which claimed one house and closed a portion of Highway 190 to traffic.
Police say the fire started around noon in a dry grassy area of a residential property in the 64-700 block of Paeli Alanui Street. The fire reportedly “spread quickly” through the dry brush, damaging an uninhabited structure and a vehicle.
By about 4:30 p.m. it had spread to at least 2,000 acres, Hawaii County Fire Department Fire Chief Gantry Andrade said.
There were no injuries reported as of Friday afternoon, and the entire extent of damage remains unknown.
Around 1:40 p.m., officials closed a portion of Highway 190 from the Old Saddle Road junction to the Waimea airport, and motorists were advised to use alternative routes. At 5 p.m. Friday the road remained closed.
“There’s no containment percentage as of right now,” Andrade said around 5 p.m. “As we speak, the fire is reaching Highway 190. So our guys are actively trying to stop it from jumping the highway. The front is now approximately one-mile wide on the highway side.”
Andrade said at least 16 fire crews, two helicopters and two bulldozers were on-scene working to suppress the fire Friday afternoon, but dry conditions coupled with heavy winds was making extinguishing the blaze difficult.
Word of the fire quickly spread through social media. Several members of a Facebook group posted photos and videos, and a Facebook user said he could smell smoke from Waikoloa.
Another Facebook user said traffic in the nearby area was heavily backed up.
Waimea resident Agnes Carlos told the Tribune-Herald she first noticed the fire around 12:30 p.m. as she was driving into town to the Parker Ranch Center. She said she could see the smoke cloud getting bigger as she continued driving.
“We could see a lot of smoke going into the sky,” Carlos said. “And we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, what is that?’ And the closer we got to Waimea town, we could see it was really close to town.”
The fire prompted Hawaii Island Humane Society to evacuate its Waimea shelter Friday afternoon.
Director Donna Whitaker said in an email volunteers removed 55 animals from the shelter. They were taken into the care of community members, staff and volunteers. Whitaker said normal operations were expected to resume Saturday.
“A brush fire threat, and the possibility of smoke inhalation, is always very serious, and protection of shelter animals is part of our training,” Whitaker said in the email.
The Waimea-Kohala Airport closed its runway Friday as a precaution, airport manager Tim Hand told the Tribune-Herald at about 2 p.m. It expected to the closure to remain in place until 10 p.m. Hand said the airport had also received several phone calls.
“It’s huge,” Hand said of the fire, which he described at the time as visible flames with heavy smoke. “It’s probably stretching out about three miles long and a mile wide. I can see flames, so I don’t think it’s going to be out anytime soon.”
Police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating witnesses to the start of the fire. The investigation is being continued by the Area II Criminal Investigation Section. They are asking anyone with information to call Detective Dominic Uyetake at 326-4646, extension 228, or email him at Dominic.Uyetake@hawaiicounty.gov. They can also call the Police Department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311.
Those who wish to remain anonymous can call the islandwide Crime Stoppers number at 961-8300 and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000. Crime Stoppers is a volunteer program run by ordinary citizens who want to keep their community safe. Crime Stoppers doesn’t record calls or subscribe to caller ID. Crime Stoppers information is kept confidential.