Investigation underway into cause of Piihana fire that forced evacuations

WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) - An investigation is underway to find the cause of another fast-moving brush fire on Maui that forced mandatory and voluntary evacuations on Monday.

The Maui Fire Department said crews responded to the fire around 9:15 a.m. in the vicinity of Piihana Road and Kahekili Highway, and found multiple areas of brush burning from as many as six initial ignition locations.

MFD has not yet said if investigators believe this may have been arson or whether they are classifying the case as suspicious.

Firefighters fully contained the fire by 2:45 p.m. It scorched at least four acres of land.

Approximately 45 homes along Piihana Road were evacuated, with precautionary evacuation messages sent to residents of Happy Valley and Wailuku Heights.

“The smoke was really heavy. Within five minutes, I could see flames. That’s when I started getting terrified, and I was scared,” said Fernandez, who lives on Neki Place. “I told my husband we need to evacuate. I ended up calling MPD and said please send another truck down here in case we get stuck and can’t get out of our road.”

Fernandez said it brought back traumatizing memories.

As the one-year mark of the Lahaina wildfire disaster nears, any wildfire triggers anxiety for the Valley Isle.

“I had a panic attack thinking back to things that happened last year,” Fernandez said. “If the fire had gotten to those poles, those poles could have fallen... and if all of this falls, we can’t drive our cars out of here. I wouldn’t even want to walk out of here. So, it was terrifying.”

Her neighbor Tere Rapoza, said she hopes something can be done to protect her neighborhood.

“We have fires here often, especially around this area here.”

One firefighter was treated at the scene for heat distress, MFD said.

Firefighters continued to monitor hot spots, making sure there were no flareups.

Maui county leaders say the communication during Monday’s emergency was much better than it was during the Lahaina fire a year ago.

Maui’s Emergency Management Agency was partially activated and Wireless Emergency Alerts were sent to affected residents.

MFD said units from across the island, including multiple tankers from Goodfellow Bros and Alpha Construction, helped in the fire fight.