KUNIA, Hawaii (KHON2) — Brush fires have been flaring up in the Kunia Farmlands area since Sunday, Aug. 10, and it happened again on Friday, Aug. 15.
No structures were damaged, but the flames came quite close.
Farmers in the Kunia Loa Ridge Farmlands have had a hectic week. The Honolulu Fire Department said five brushfires have been reported in the past five days.
“It got within probably four feet of the house. And luckily, the HFD, you know, HFD was able to show up on scene, and that was the first thing they knocked down was to make sure that that was safe,” said Charles Donaldson, Kunia Loa Ridge Farmlands board president.
Farmers have been on edge since the flames got so close.
“It’s hard,” said Kunia Loa Ridge Farmlands farmer Lenny Galban. “This would be our road, and this would be my property just like that. That close. It was just smokey, can you get to get out of here, your eyes burning, yeah.”
The board president of the Kunia Loa Ridge Farmlands told KHON2 that he has been in talks with HFD since the Lahaina disaster.
“I work heavy with HFD, so they get out here as fast as they can. I’m not going to lie, with all these other fires that have been pushing out on Kunia Road, out in different areas,” he said.
HFD said it is working with Honolulu police to determine what exactly is going on. HPD said it opened an arson investigation into the fire on Tuesday, Aug. 11.
“Obviously, somebody is going around and starting these fires. And as farmers, we got animals and you know, our farmland that we need to take care of,” Galban said.
There is no real infrastructure for fire hydrants to pump water to the tankers that are helping to fight the fire up in the farmland. Both residents and farmers alike are very thankful for HFD, HPD and any other agencies that helped battle the blaze to keep it away from the structures.
“Without them, we would, definitely lost a lot of, a lot more structures. You know, I’m grateful for HPD, HFD, you know, and all the other agencies that came in and do come in to help us,” Donaldson said.
“If the public has any information, and whether that be video footage or just information in general to please, you know, reach out to HPD. So we can include that in the investigation,” said HFD Capt. Malcom Medrano.