Western Hawaii regions need rain 'real bad' amid latest wildfire

HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Firefighters monitored a brush fire that broke out on the afternoon of Thursday, Aug. 1 in Makaha into the evening.

Fire officials officials said they got the blaze under control but residents are still on edge as Hawaii is in the heat of summer.

A total of 13 Honolulu Fire Department ground crews and 2 helicopters helped keep the flames away from homes in Makaha Valley, but the smoke and ash still came too close for comfort for some.

"So we got to running upstairs and looked and we took pictures," Makaha Valley resident Sam Manglicmot said. "and we could see the flame up there, you see that tree right there? Behind that one we could see flame! I said, I hope it's not going to pass that house right there."

_{Courtesy Dyer Haugen}

The mauka-bound lanes of Huipu Drive and Noholio were been closed while multiple HFD engines responded. Residents close to where the flames broke out around 2 p.m. feel thankful for the helicopters that made water drops in bone-dry Makaha.

""I saw the flames, was real high you know? Tripped me out so I got on my scooter and came up the hill," Makaha Valley resident David said. "We get the rain, but we need some real bad now, we need some rain bad, you see how dry it is brother."

It is extremely dry in Makaha, as well as most western portions of neighbor islands. There was plenty of fuel for a fire in Makaha and officials are reminding residents to be proactive and stay prepared.

Evacuations were not issued, but fire officials recommend having an emergency go-bag ready and add that making a plan to safely get out of the home before an emergency is critical to survive when one strikes.

The Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board chair said taking steps around the home is crucial as well.

"Mitigate the fuel loads in our yards. So clean up all your dead leaves, clean up all the brush, don't pile up, get rid of any abandoned tires. I mean, we can do what we can do to prepare in our residential areas," Samantha DeCorte said.

HFD officials said 35 acres -- which is about the size of 26.5 football fields -- were involved in the fire and that no homes were threatened. Residents are grateful that winds were mostly blowing away from structures.

"Depending on the way the wind was blowing, you know, it can really hit residents like that," DeCorte said with a snap of her fingers, "and so thankfully, Mother Nature was working in our favor, where the wind wasn't blowing towards the residents."

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor map showed moderate or severe drought throughout all of Hawaii's western coasts except on the Big Island -- the Makaha fire was somewhere between 90% and 100% contained as of 9:15 p.m.