Honolulu, US Army Use Helicopters to Fight Remote Oahu Wildfire

(AP) — Honolulu and Army helicopters were dropping water from the air to battle a wildfire in a remote mountainous area in Central Oahu on Monday.
No structures or homes were threatened and no evacuations were ordered, the Honolulu Fire Department said in a news release.
But ash was falling on nearby neighborhoods and Army bases, and the smell of smoke was in the air, said U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii spokesperson Michael Donnelly. Child development centers on base were keeping children indoors because of the ash and smoke, Donnelly said in an email.
The fire was about 60 acres (24 hectares) in size and was 40% contained by late afternoon, the fire department said. The flames burned land belonging cooperatively to the city and state. The property borders land controlled by the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Two fire department helicopters and two Army Blackhawk helicopters were fighting the blaze. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources sent a contract helicopter to assist and was sending in ground personnel to secure a perimeter and conduct reconnaissance.
The U.S. Army was also deploying a CH-47 Chinook helicopter capable of carrying up to 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of water — much more than the fire department’s helicopters which are each able to carry 100 gallons (379 gallons.)
The nearest towns are Mililani and Wahiawa, which are about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Honolulu. Army installations Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Army Airfield are also in the vicinity.
October is the rainy season in Hawaii but drought has been afflicting the entire state. The U.S. Drought Monitor said Central Oahu was in moderate drought as of last week.
In August, multiple wildfires scorched Maui including a blaze that killed at least 99 people and destroyed more than 2,000 structures in Lahaina. Powerful winds related to a hurricane passing far to Hawaii’s south helped fuel that fire and prevented firefighters from using helicopters to tackle the blaze.
 
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