A fast-moving brush fire fueled by fierce winds forced the evacuation of about 50 Maui residents in Kahikinui, Maui.
The Kahikinui fire was initially estimated at 500 acres, but aerial surveys overnight put the estimate at about 330 acres, Maui's fire department said. The fire is 85% contained. Authorities conducted door-to-door evacuations and part of a highway was closed. No injuries or structural damage had been reported.
Warren Aganos was on his family's Hawaiian Homelands lot preparing to go on a Father's Day hunt when a neighbor called him around 9 a.m. telling him a fire had broken out.
“I hung up and raced out, I didn't let her finish,” said Aganos, who has been slowly rebuilding the three structures his family lost in a 2016 brush fire that burned over 5,000 acres in the same area. “I was thinking about the last one,” he said. “It was super emotional.”
Aganos said he rushed in his truck to make sure first responders knew where the community's water storage tanks were before navigating Kahikinui's dirt roads down to the highway where he could see smoke billowing over the hillside. The community lacks electrical and water infrastructure, and some of the roads are only navigable by four-wheel drive.
Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke and Mayor Richard Bissen signed emergency proclamations that activate the Hawaiʻi National Guard to deploy resources as needed to aid in fire suppression and protect public safety, and authorizing the county to access federal assistance programs for individuals and public infrastructure.
The American Red Cross opened a shelter Sunday at King Kekaulike High School gymnasium in Makawao but that is closed as of Monday morning because of a summer school program.
Evacuation orders were lifted on Tuesday night, according to the Maui Emergency Management Agency.
Maui is considered to be 100% in drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Compared to the tourism draw of Lahaina, Kahikinui is less populated and developed. It was used for cattle ranching for many years and is a few miles from the Kahikinui State Forest Reserve, a conservation area.
The fire department sent engines, tankers and a helicopter to battle the blaze. Three bulldozers cut firebreaks in the lower part of the community, Desiree Graham, co-chair of Kahikinui’s firewise committee, said.
Catherine Cluett Pactol contributed to this report.
