MFD Responds to 2 Honokohau Valley Structure Fires

Crews from the Napili Fire Station arrived at the scene at 7:33 p.m. and discovered a 16-by-25-foot, two-story, residential structure involved with fire about one-half mile up the valley road and about 100 yards up-land from the earlier extinguished structure fire. PC: MFD

Maui Fire Department personnel responded to two separate fire incidents located within the Honokohau Valley area on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018.

At approximately 2:43 p.m., Engine 11 and Mini 11 from the Napili Fire Station and Tanker 3 from the Lahaina Fire Station were dispatched to the Honokohau Valley area for a report of a structure fire.

Crews from the Napili Fire Station arrived at the scene at 3:06 p.m. and were directed to a 16-by-16-foot, single-story, residential structure involved with fire about one-half mile up the valley road from Honoapi‘ilani Highway.

The fire was extinguished with assistance from Tanker 3.

The structure, which was unoccupied at the time of the fire’s discovery, had been previously washed from its original location 100 yards up-land by flood waters associated with Tropical Storm Olivia.

Previous tenants of the structure and nearby neighbors had been removing items from the structure earlier in the day with preparation to remove the structure on the weekend.

About two hours after the removal of items had ceased, the structure was observed to be on fire by nearby neighbors, and 911 was called.

Later in the evening, at approximately 1912 hours, Engine 11 and Mini 11 from the Napili Fire Station and Engine 3 and Tanker 3 from the Lahaina Fire Station were again dispatched to the Honokohau Valley area for a report of a structure fire.

Crews from the Napili Fire Station arrived at the scene at 7:33 p.m. and discovered a 16-by-25-foot, two-story, residential structure involved with fire about one-half mile up the valley road and about 100 yards up-land from the earlier extinguished structure fire.

Fire personnel also observed a 10-by-10-foot pile of burning wood, vegetation and miscellaneous items on fire about 50 yards southwest of the structure fire.

Both fires were eventually extinguished with assistance from fire personnel from Engine 3 and water from Tanker 3.

This two-story structure was unoccupied and unsecured at the time of the fire’s discovery; a nearby neighbor was alerted by the smell of smoke, saw the fire and called 911.

No one had lived in the structure since the flood and the owner was planning to fix it up. This structure’s location was at the original area where the first structure had been located prior to it being washed down-land by the flood waters.

Both structures were about 30 feet apart prior to the flood and are owned by the same person.

A fire investigator and two Maui Police Department detectives were dispatched to the area to investigate the fires. The fire scene was secured until daylight by MPD.

The cause of each of these fires is unknown at this time, and both structure fires have been classified as undetermined until more information is provided or gathered.

Fire damages were estimated at $40,000 for each structure based on assessments by Real Property Tax records. There were no injuries associated with these fires.

Because of evidence and information gathered during the investigation and the circumstances regarding the multiple fire occurrences in the same area, there is a high probability that these fires were intentionally set.

MPD is following up on the investigation.