North Kona brush fire consumed nearly 200 acres

Firefighters mopped up final hotspots Monday on a brushfire hat consumed nearly 200 acres this weekend in a populated area of North Kona.

Residents of Wainani Estates and Kona Acres cleaned up ash and put behind them a harrowing holiday chapter that kept many on edge for two days with shifting smoke and winds and sporadic flare-ups from a blaze that consumed dry vegetation to the very edge of the subdivisions.

Firefighters had their hands full containing the flames Saturday afternoon and Sunday, as flareups broke out at different points and the blaze in some cases ran in opposing directions. Bulldozers broke fire lines around the perimeter Saturday night and two helicopters ground it out with persistent water drops Saturday and Sunday, along with ground efforts involving crews with tankers and hoses.

Firefighters, assisted by a chopper, continued to monitor the area Monday and put out a handful of hotspots along the mauka edge of the burn below Kona Acres.

The fire, which broke out Saturday afternoon, blackened 193 acres south and west of the subdivisions, Hawaii County Fire Department Battalion Chief Joseph Farias told West Hawaii Today Monday morning following a helicopter overflight of the fire. Some unburned fuel between the fire lines and houses in Wainani Estates remained a concern.

“The remaining fuel is still the threat,” Farias said. “We have less to worry about now, but we still have things to be concerned with.”

No roads were closed Monday morning, however, motorists are advised to use caution in the area because firefighters and equipment may be on the roadway.

While residents had been advised on Saturday they might have to evacuate, no actual evacuation occurred. Some packed up their pets and valuables and left voluntarily. Others spent hours spraying down lawn edges and roofs.

Alison Keith, whose home borders the burned area, had evacuated with two cats, but returned a couple of hours later. Her husband was up two nights putting out hot spots, she said. She is nervous every time she smells smoke, but firefighters have assured her they won’t leave the area until all danger has passed.

“It’s been depressing to see a beautiful landscape burn down and there’s nothing you can do,” she said.

Carolyn and Frank Hocke spent Sunday cleaning up ash to the buzz of helicopters overhead. The elderly couple had just moved to the Wainani Estates home from extreme drought and fire danger in New Mexico. Frank Hocke’s eyes stung and he had problems breathing.

“I stayed inside and prayed,” Carolyn Hocke said.

Neighbors joined firefighters in manning the edge of the subdivisions with hoses and buckets as the fire, whose cause is still unknown, raced mauka from the Kapuahi Street area just past noon on the Fourth of July.

“The firefighters were wonderful. The neighbors were all really good, coming down and reassuring us,” Hocke said. “The bad news is we had the fire. The good news is there is nothing left to burn.”