Hawaiian residents evacuated as windswept Kaumakani wildfire spreads rapidly

KAUMAKANI, Hawaii – Residents of about 200 homes in a small rural community on the Hawaiian island of Kauai were evacuated due to a windswept wildfire on Monday as firefighters tried to stop its spread by dropping water from the air, officials said.

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

Authorities warned Kaumakani-area residents of the need to flee by activating a siren system, sending authorities door-to-door and notifying them by phone and text messages, Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami said.

“Until everything is under control, people should take precautions and evacuate permanently,” Kawakami said.

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

There were reports of structures catching fire, but Kawakami previously said he did not know if any homes or businesses had been burned by the blaze. The incident was reported around noon in the Hanapepe area, about 3 miles east, he said.

In addition to dropping water on the fire from helicopters, heavy machinery was also being used to create gaps to prevent the fire from spreading, as well as firefighters trying to contain the fire on the ground, Kawakami said.

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

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

“Within half an hour, it was two football fields away,” he said. He and his son tried to stay nearby, splashing water around the store. But the smoke got much worse, so they went home to Kekaha.

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

He said the community is an old sugar plantation community and the owners used tractors to ward off fires, similar to what they did during the plantation era.

This wildfire comes nearly a year after flames tore through the historic town of Lahaina, killing more than 100 people, incinerating around 3,000 buildings and displacing 12,000 residents. The August 8 wildfire was the deadliest to hit the United States in more than a century.