Happy Valley Fire Aftermath

There was a 25 acre brushfire on Sunday night in Happy Valley - a little enclave just next to Wailuku.  The blaze was believed to be caused by fireworks.  I cruised up there today to see what I could and noticed that life has pretty much gone back to normal; however, the infrastructure of the firefighting was still setup from the weekend.  After looking at the photos, I can't believe how close the fire came to engulfing homes.

What was interesting to observe was the fact that there was hardly anyone around.  Almost like a post-apocalyptic scene, trucks, beds, and food were present, just not the people!




Firefighter basecamp

Homes were spared

Note the firefighter patrolling on the ridge

A Traffic Inferno

Yesterday afternoon, there was a 25 acre brushfire near the Kahului Heliport that snarled traffic around Kahului, Paia, and blocked access to Upcountry and Paia for hours.  Originally reported around 1:25P, I got stuck in the traffic trying to get home (Haiku) from Kihei at 3PM.  The only way to get to Paia was via the back road behind Costco, which incidentally wasn't closed and led traffic right by the fire. Fortunately, the road was upwind of the fire.

At the time, Hansen road and Hana highway between Dairy Road and Haleakala Highway intersection were closed.

 Here are the smoldering remnants of the fire.

Due to the nearby location of the fire to the airport, we got to see the fancy airport fire rescue trucks in action.

Me stuck in traffic trying to get to Paia.

Crazy mess - intersection of Hana Highway and Dairy Road

Officer directing traffic at above intersection

West Maui Flare Up

Just when we all thought the West Maui wildfire was dying down, there was a flare up this afternoon at about 1:30PM above the Kamehameha Golf Course.

Over 60 hours after the fire began, the fierce winds stoked the flames and two MFD helicopters were busy dumping water on the blaze in an effort to extinguish it.

It was amazing to see how large the fire appeared to be in relation to the helicopters and their tiny water buckets.  The dumping of water seemed to have little to no immediate effect on the flames.  I guess over a period of hours the water must win, but from where I parked on the Honoapi'ilani Highway staring through my 300mm (450mm full-frame equivalent) telephoto lens, the helicopters looked like scurrying dragonflies spitting on an inferno.

Did you know it costs $420 per hour to operate the fire helicopters?  It's ironic because in April the Maui County Council wanted to short the Maui fire department $90,000 from the original $825,000 the MFD requested for the helicopter budget.  Find story here.

A massive MAHALO to all the firefighters, police officers, rescue workers, and volunteers involved in this monumental undertaking.

All the shots in this post were taken around 2:15PM this afternoon.

View from Kuihelani Highway

View from Honoapi'ilani Highway

Burn, Burns, Burnt, Burned, and Burning

West Maui is on fire RIGHT NOW.  As of 10pm last night, a Maalaea brushfire consumed 2,000 acres and forced the closure of all roads to the west side (Lahaina, Kaanapali, Kapalua etc.) and the evacuation of about 100 people.

Once we were done with our snorkel trip today and were about to trailer the boat out of the water at Kihei Boat Ramp, a guy approached us and asked if we could ferry part of a wedding party currently in Wailea to Kaanapali to attend a wedding tonight due to the road closure.

At Borders and Whole Foods, tourists as well as residents were chatting on cell phones and surfing on iPads (I know, I know) for the latest news about the roads.  Many people are stuck on both sides of the blaze.  Even the road on the north side of West Maui via Kahakuloa is closed.

Here's a shot I got this morning at 5:49AM:

Here's one from this afternoon at 2:56PM:

One thing to notice is how the fire progressed westward (to the left in the pics) in nine hours. With gusts of up to 40mph driving the blaze, the fire has now jumped Honoapiilani highway and is currently scorching the makai (ocean) side of the highway near the Pali tunnel.