CONGRATULATIONS! You have found one of the four fires of your scavenger hunt.
"A firefighter waters down hot spots along a steep slope in Makaha Valley after this week's brushfire, which started Tuesday night and was mostly extinguished by late yesterday afternoon." (Jeff Widener/Honolulu Advertiser)
The Makaha Valley Fire was the largest wildfire between 2003-2007 that burned during the hooilo season. Pay close attention to the description of the changing weather patterns and vegetation conditions that led up to the fire. Sounds a lot like El Niño 2016!
"'It was just a small fire when we first saw it but it went berserko in a matter of minutes," DeSoto said. "You know what happened last year. If it turns out to be a dry spring and summer, given the amount of rain we had during the fall and all of the foliage that results from it, we could be in for another bad season again.'
Speculation among DeSoto's neighbors is that the fire is the result of someone igniting fireworks in the area."
"The brushfire scorched a mile-long area on the west side of Makaha Valley, burning off all the green and brown grass cover, along with hale koa scrub brush. From Farrington Highway, the charred earth extended along Kili Drive up to a large water tank.
The area burned had no structures, and firefighters struggled to control it because of the steep slopes and remote location. Tejada said it could have been a small fire, but winds caught it and sent it up the slope quickly."
"In 2005, arsonists set more than 700 brushfires on O'ahu. Seven arrests were made, but only one case is being prosecuted, in federal court."