Hawaiian residents evacuated as wind-swept wildfire in Kaumakani quickly spreads

KAUMAKANI, Hawaii — Residents of about 200 homes in a small, rural community on the Hawaiian island of Kauai were evacuated Monday because of a wind-whipped wildfire. Firefighters tried to prevent the fire from spreading by throwing water from the air, officials said.

The fire had burned about 1.56 square miles (4.04 square kilometers) of land between Hanapepe and Kaumakani, Kauai Fire Department officials said. “Multiple” structures are threatened, officials said. The fire is 60% contained.

Authorities alerted residents in the Kaumakani area by activating a siren system, sending authorities door-to-door and notifying them by phone and text message, Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami said.

“Until we get it under control, people need to take precautions and definitely evacuate,” Kawakami said.

Authorities have closed the Kaumuali’i Highway from Lele Road in Hanapepe to Kaumakani, near Aloha Sweet Delights, due to the fire.

There were reports of burning structures, but Kawakami said earlier he did not know if any homes or businesses had been burned by the fire. It was reported around noon in the Hanapepe area, about 3 miles (4.83 kilometers) to the east, he said.

In addition to throwing water on the fire from helicopters, heavy equipment was used to make holes to prevent the fire from spreading, and firefighters tried to stop the fire on the ground, Kawakami said.

Electricity was also cut off on the west side of the island due to the fire.

Chad Machado, who runs JP’s Pizza in Kaumakani with his son, was making dough while the store was closed on Monday when he noticed the fire in the mountains.

“Within a half hour it was two football fields away,” he said. He and his son tried to hang on and shot water around the store. But the smoke was too much, so they went home to Kekaha.

“People were running out with suitcases, it was total chaos,” he said. “So much smoke we couldn’t breathe.”

He said the community is a former sugar plantation community and landowners used tractors to fight the fire, similar to what they did in the plantation era.

This wildfire comes nearly a year after flames tore through the historic town of Lahaina, more than 100 people killedwhich destroyed some 3,000 buildings and displaced 12,000 residents. The August 8 wildfire was the deadliest to ever hit the United States more than a century.