West Hawaii fire alert level ‘extreme’

POHAKULOA TRAINING AREA — New growth already is rising from the ashes less than two weeks after a suspicious fire charred 320 acres at Pohakuloa Training Area.

The green sprouts from tufts of blackened grass are new fuel being added to an already surplus supply in the dry South Kohala area, said PTA Fire Chief Eric Moller. After seven years with little rain, PTA experienced wetter conditions the past couple of years that bolstered the growth of brush, he said.

However, things are drying up fast.

On Tuesday, conditions were very dry, with the U.S. Army posting signs warning of “extreme” fire hazard in the area. Motorists are advised to not only continue to report any suspicious activity in the area but also use caution when stopping on the side of roadways because heat from catalytic converters can ignite grass beneath a vehicle.

“Our wildland fire threat is really, really severe on the west side. And, coupled with that, historically following an El Nino season you have very dry weather and that’s where we are,” Moller said, noting that in 1997-98, things were so dry on the island that several large brush fires broke out in the normally wet Puna District. “And, as you know, we are already in a drought situation.”

According to the Pacific Fire Exchange, a member of the Joint Fire Science Program, during El Nino, summers can see above average rainfall that extends the growing season, especially in drier areas where plant growth is usually limited by lack of rainfall. Extended drought during the winter months then causes vegetation to dry out, increasing the risk of wildfire.

PTA spans nearly 200,000 acres between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa covered with some native species and a lot of fire fuel such as buffelgrass and castor bean that ignites and spreads quickly. In 1998-99, Moller said it took about four hours for a fire that sparked at Puuanahulu to travel about 14 miles toward the federal installation.

However, a fire that broke out Feb. 11 in the vicinity of Highway 190 and Daniel K. Inouye Highway and charred land within the Keamuku Maneuver Area was kept small thanks to cooperative efforts between county, state and federal firefighters, Moller said. Moller has been with the PTA fire unit for more than a decade and has seen the relationship between the three entities improve to protect lives and property.

“Since 2003, I’ve seen a huge change in how we actually handle fires,” he said. “We had much bigger fires when I first got here because we were more disjunctive, and now we’ve come much closer together. There’s a synergy that works.”

An example of that mutual aid occurred during the past couple of weeks when fires broke out in the vicinity of Highway 190 in North Kona and South Kohala. Working “seamlessly” and “together,” the county, state and federal crews kept two of the fires on PTA land to less than an acre and a third to 320 acres. They also were assisted by favorable wind conditions.

“With the fire we had on the Keamuku (Maneuver Area), the county ordered a dozer to help assist in that. They didn’t have to wait for me as a jurisdictional issue to say, ‘I need a dozer.’ They can move forward and actually order up resources,” Moller said.

Hawaii Fire Department Chief Darren Rosario said Tuesday that his department has an excellent relationship with federal and state firefighting resources that has improved during the past decade.

“What this does is it puts a lot more resources on the fire early with the hope that we can contain, control and extinguish it,” Rosario said, noting mutual aid has expanded in recent years to allow PTA to provide aid outside federal lands. He also noted the Fire Department expanded its reach with new stations at Makalei, Keauhou and Waikoloa. In the 1980s, fire service between Waimea and Kailua-Kona did not exist.

“We’re just blessed to have them as a partner,” he summarized.

On Tuesday, PTA honored several of its civilian Public Works employees for their bulldozer efforts the initial day of the fires. Earning the special “Impact Award” for their positive contributions to the firefighting effort were heavy equipment operators Roy Ogama, Danny Collins and Dale Hoopai. The trio spent 10 to 12 hours cutting fire breaks to keep the burn area from growing.

“You guys did above and beyond and went out there and dug those breaks — you guys really are the ones who contained this fire,” PTA Garrison Commander Col. Jacob Peterson said before handing each man a $500 check.

All told, the fires that burned from Feb. 11-18 charred approximately 1,146 acres of state and federal land consisting of mostly brush.

In the wake of the suspicious fires, the Hawaii Police Department increased patrols in the area. Signs also were posted, urging motorists to report any suspicious activity in the area to Big Island police at 935-3311.

No fires have been reported since Feb. 18, according to fire and Army officials. Police continue to investigate the string of fires as arson.

Email Chelsea Jensen at cjensen@westhawaiitoday.com.