UPDATE – (11 a.m.) – The Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense provided an alert message about the fire at 10:55 a.m. HST.

Emergency officials report the brush fire in the Manowaialeʻe Forest Reserve has burned approximately 420 acres and is 30% percent contained.

“Smoke is visible in the area and smoke may be noticeable in other areas of Hawaiʻi Island, to include Kohala and Kona Districts,” the civil defense message stated. “There are no communities or structures threatened, and there are no road closures due to the fire, as crews continue to actively fight the fire.”

FIRST REPORT

(BIVN) – A brush fire is currently burning in the forests mauka of the Hāmākua coast on Hawaiʻi island.

The fire department is calling it the Kaʻala brush fire and it is located in the area of Keanakolu. It has been reported that the fire involves the Manowaialeʻe Forest Reserve in the Ōʻōkala area. 

Smoke was first spotted the day before, prompting a response from Laupāhoehoe district. “Upon investigation found a plume of smoke burning deep in the Eucalyptus forest,” the fire department wrote. The fire was inaccessible by vehicles or ground crews, so a night watch was set up that evening to monitor the progress of the blaze.

By the next day, a full scale brush fire was initiated by the responding fire companies.

“Fire changed direction and started to burn through Eucalyptus trees and into the Koa reserve forests,” the fire department reported. Four D6 dozers were used to create fire breaks and road ways for fire department and volunteer vehicles “to create a last stand” for the approaching fire front.

Hawaiʻi County volunteers, National Parks Service, and Hawaiʻi DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife personnel were activated to help with brush fire, the department reports.

The brush fire eventually burned through the fire breaks and into the Koa forest reserve. “All personnel and vehicles still on scene battling brush fire at this time,” the HFD stated in the 8 a.m. news dispatch. “Fire still burning at this time.”

The area where the fire is burning is currently designated in the D1 Moderate Drought to D2 Severe Drought range by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The National Weather Service says winds will remain well below critical fire weather thresholds the next few days. “Drier air will filter in across the state Monday and maintain low humidity, but winds will remain below critical fire weather thresholds,” the forecasters wrote on Sunday morning. “Showers may increase in coverage and intensity over many windward exposures beginning late Monday through the middle of the week as a result of the approach and passage of Tropical Cyclone Kiko well north of the state.”

This is a breaking news story. It will be updated when more information becomes available.