Hawaiian Fires are Suspected Arson
[Guest post by DRJ]
Arson is suspected in fires on the big island of Hawaii that have prompted evacuations of coastal areas:
“Brush fires that appeared to be the work of arsonists burned out of control Sunday along the coast of Hawaii’s largest island, sending hundreds of people fleeing inland, officials said. No homes were damaged and no one was injured, but officials on the Big Island worried the fires could approach residential areas with a slight change in Hawaii’s temperamental breezes, said Duane Hosaka, staff officer for Hawaii County Civil Defense.
Nine fires appear to have been set in dry grasses along coastal roads early Sunday, Hosaka said. The evacuation order affected an estimated 400 people. The fires were apparently started within minutes of one another by one or more motorists who lit dry grasses, Hosaka said. The blazes covered more than 2,000 acres, or more than 3 square miles, near the northwestern tip of the island and were not contained, Hosaka said. More than 60 fire departments were involved.”
This sounds like copycat arson patterned after the California fires.
— DRJ
DRJ
I lived in Hawaii for many years and one thing you can say about that place it sure isn’t dried out stuff waiting to burn. The climate is so humid that on some of the smaller islands annual rainfall exceeds 100 inches per year as a normal situation.
daytrader (ea6549) — 10/28/2007 @ 9:55 pmThe Santana Winds must be exceptionally strong this year.
Another Drew (8018ee) — 10/29/2007 @ 4:34 pmdaytrader — huh?
There are whole sections of the Hawaiian islands that are perpetually tinderbox dry. The prevailing winds blow from the north and east, bringing moisture off the ocean to the north and east sides of the various islands.
By comparison, the south west sides of each island are extremely dry and arid. Anyone can verify this by checking the weather patters of Hilo on the Big Island against Kona on the Big Island. Hilo, on the northeast shore, gets about 125 inches of rain every year, whereas Kona on the south west shore gets around 10 inches a year.
The nine fires on the Big Island yesterday were all on the leeward side of the island, but a little further north than the most arid region of the island.
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/29/news/story03.html
WLS (bafbcb) — 10/29/2007 @ 4:46 pmI concur on parts of Hawaii being very arid. I’m suprised they don’t have more fires. I was on Maui in June. They had a huge fire in the hills above Lahaina that burned several homes. Parts of Hawaii are just as ripe for fire as the places that burned in Ca recently.
Retired cop (7cfd24) — 10/29/2007 @ 4:52 pmRetired cop — yes, but the point I’m making is that those areas of Hawaii on the leeward coasts of the various islands are ALWAYS dry. It has nothing to do with global warming or any other weather mystery.
wls (fb8809) — 10/30/2007 @ 8:16 am