A brushfire near the University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus prompted the evacuation of faculty housing yesterday and sent one of 60 firefighters battling it to the hospital with heat exhaustion.

The fire that began Thursday night was contained early yesterday morning, then flared up around noon. It charred a total of 50 acres in the St. Louis Heights area before being contained for the second time at 3:15 p.m., said Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Terry Seelig.

Firefighters are still investigating the cause of the brushfire.

Firefighters first responded to the fire call at 10:33 p.m. Thursday, dispatching 45 firefighters, a helicopter and a tanker, said Seelig. HFD declared the blaze contained a little more than eight hours later.

Increasing winds rekindled the brushfire around noon yesterday, pushing it closer to the Manoa campus.

"The decision was made to evacuate Wa'ahila faculty apartments at noon," said Gregg Takayama, director of communications at UH. Takayama said the last resident left the three-building complex on Dole Street, which has about 85 units, at 1:30 p.m.

The fire was about 200 yards up the ridge from the apartments. The complexes were half-empty, with only about 40 residents there, because of summer break, Takayama said.

East-West Road leading to several student housing complexes as well as the Korean Studies Building and East-West Center also was coned off around noon to stop drivers and pedestrians from entering. Students, faculty and staff already on campus were not evacuated, but the parking lot was closed and drivers were asked to move their cars to other Manoa parking lots.

Takayama said a mass e-mail was sent out to UH students, faculty and staff at 1:30 p.m. to tell them of the brushfire and the apartment evacuation.

Honolulu Emergency Services paramedics treated one firefighter for heat exhaustion at about 2:45 p.m. The 28-year-old firefighter was taken by colleagues to a nearby field, near the university dorms. He was later taken to Straub Medical Center in stable condition, suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration, EMS spokesman Bryan Cheplic said.

No other injuries were reported Thursday night through yesterday.

With 60 firefighters battling the re-awakened brushfire, the blaze was again contained around 3 p.m. Firefighters tapped into the Board of Water Supply's Manoa reservoir — nestled in the Wa'ahila Ridge above the faculty apartments — as their main source of water.

The faculty apartments and East-West Road reopened at 3 p.m. Firefighters remained nearby to monitor both sides of the smoky and blackened Wa'ahila Ridge, said UH Campus Security Chief Neal Sakamoto.

If needed, the university administration was prepared to open relief centers in three of its classroom buildings, the biggest with maximum capacity of 300 people.