Firefighters remain busy Friday evening battling a 5,200-acre brush fire burning since Monday in Pahala.
Firefighters remain busy Friday evening battling a 5,200-acre brush fire burning since Monday in Pahala.
The makai fire, one of two brush fires burning in the Pahala area, is estimated at 5,200 acres as of 4:30 p.m., according to the Hawaii Fire Department. A perimeter has been established and the fire is listed as 60 percent contained.
Highway 11, the lone means of traversing South Hawaii, remains open to both lanes of travel. Motorists are asked to drive carefully and yield to crews and vehicles on the highway.
A second 400-acre brush fire burning above Pahala off Cane Haul Road continues to burn but is listed at 95 percent contained, according to the department.
Eighteen personnel are battling the fires, according to the department.