LAHAINA, Maui — High winds, sloping terrain and large tracts of vacant farmland covered with tinder-dry kiawe and brush provide a "perfect storm" of conditions for wildfires along Maui's leeward coast from Ukumehame to Lahainaluna.

A ferocious brushfire last week that blackened 2,600 acres in Olowalu and Launiupoko was the second major blaze to strike the area this year. It destroyed two homes and a tomato farm and sent hundreds of evacuees, residents and tourists stranded by the closure of Honoapi'ilani Highway to American Red Cross shelters in Kahului and Lahaina.

In February, a fire above the Puamana subdivision burned 1,000 acres and threatened those living in remote Kaua'ula Valley, claiming one family's home.

Launiupoko resident Angus McKelvey said his 2-acre property has been threatened by wildfires five times since he moved into the 153-lot agricultural subdivision six years ago. His neighbor lost a cottage and a pet cat in last week's fire, and McKelvey watched as his own home nearly burned.

"A fireball came within 50 yards of our home. Within 10 minutes it went from some smoke on the hill to a firestorm like you see in the movies," he said.

McKelvey, a state lawmaker, said the wildfire "showcases the problem of the urban-rural interface zone that exists now with projects going up in places that are mostly scrubland."

Those who see the fire-scarred hills at the foot of the West Maui Mountains today may find it hard to believe that until the late 1990s, much of the area was covered in a green carpet of sugar cane growing on land owned or leased by Amfac's Pioneer Mill. The plantation at one time farmed more than 14,000 acres spread across 16 miles of slopes, but by the time the sugar operation shut down in 1999, it had cut back cultivation to approximately 4,000 acres.

Now the sugar cane is gone, and so is the system of reservoirs and ditches maintained by the plantation to provide ready water to the region. In the transition away from large-scale agriculture, lack of water infrastructure and other development issues have idled thousands of acres of former fields, save for a few small farms and agricultural subdivisions.

"The best use for the land that is not going to be developed is some kind of agriculture, but those lands are very rocky and there's no infrastructure for water left," said Wes Nohara, vice chairman of the West Maui Soil and Water Conservation District. "It's a tough situation, and there is a concern about the fire hazard, and after the fires is the issue of potential runoff."

'FIRESTORM'

When last week's brushfire erupted in Olowalu near the county's solid-waste transfer station, the region had received less than 5 percent of its average annual rainfall, and the constantly blowing winds were even stronger than usual, gusting up to 50 mph.

Since fire spreads more quickly and flames burn higher up-slope than on level ground, the conditions generated what one Maui Fire Department official described as a "firestorm" that nearly devoured Olowalu village and the Launiupoko subdivision.

Witnesses said the fire started June 27 when a grader was working to clear an access road for Maui Electric Co., not behind the Olowalu General Store, as initially reported. What actually sparked the blaze remains under investigation, according to fire officials.

Olowalu Nui Farms worker Richard Thompson said he had been keeping an eye on the grader because of the noise. He said the grader had been working all week clearing the road and was finishing up a few hundred yards from the 5-acre farm, which grows hydroponic tomatoes and other crops.

"I came out of the banana fields and I was in smoke. When I looked over to where he was working, he was surrounded by flames," Thompson said.

At that point the fire had consumed about a half-acre and was quickly spreading, he said. The heavy-equipment operator drove down closer to the farm and returned to the fire with a tractor in an apparent attempt to push dirt to smother some of the flames, which were "shooting out the top of a tornado about 150 feet into the air," Thompson said.

Maui Electric Co. spokeswoman Kaui Awai-Dickson said the utility was not aware of a subcontractor performing grading work in the area on its behalf.

The fire destroyed the office and control center at Olowalu Nui Farms, which had the effect of killing the greenhouse-grown tomato plants, said owner Jon Applegate. He estimated the loss at $300,000.

The Maui Fire Code requires property owners to remove weeds and other vegetation "when determined by the chief to be a fire hazard." In cases in which total removal of growth is impractical due to the large size of the property or other factors, certain areas, such as around structures and electrical lines, are to be cleared as firebreaks, the code says.

There are no requirements to maintain firebreaks or firefighting access roads within the interiors of large sections of vacant land.

Maui Fire Chief Carl Kaupalolo said it would be unreasonable to expect property owners to regularly clear brush from the vast parcels of former farmlands in West Maui, and that some ground cover is desirable, "otherwise it would turn into a dust bowl and you'd have another problem."

Generally, the owners have been cooperative and work together to manage the lands, he said.

"We may want to have our Fire Prevention people talk with major landowners again as we did last year and take a look at these areas and cut firebreaks and conduct grading that would provide access," Kaupalolo said.

"With the amount of rain we've had, all that stuff dries up and turns into tinder. We see it every summer, but this year it's earlier than usual."

Major owners and managers of the former sugar cane land said they are acutely aware of the potential fire hazards and are conscientious about maintaining firebreaks and cutting brush where feasible.

Kamehameha Schools owns approximately 1,150 acres mauka of Lahaina that were formerly leased to the sugar company. The nonprofit trust realizes the importance of restoring agriculture on the former canefields, but it's been difficult to find tenants because the old plantation water distribution system is no longer functioning, said Giorgio Caldarone, Kamehameha's regional asset manager for O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands.

The largest tenant is a banana farm of a little less than 50 acres, he said.

West Maui Land Co. manages more than 5,700 acres in Launiupoko, Makila, Kaua'ula and Olowalu for several investment hui, including some of the land that burned in recent brushfires. The land is proposed for agricultural and residential subdivisions but much of it remains undeveloped.

Glenn Tremble, a partner in the company, said large-lot agricultural subdivisions can help reduce the fire threat "three to five acres at a time."

FIREBREAK PUT IN

In recognition of the potential hazard, the company put in a firebreak around Olowalu village and fenced in a total of 700 acres of land for cattle pasture, clearing firebreaks around the fence perimeters, he said. The cattle also keep the vegetation in check.

McKelvey, who represents the 10th House District (South Maui-West Maui), said he is more concerned about people who bought lots in agricultural subdivisions for speculative purposes and aren't keeping the brush down. He said he is working on wildfire legislation that would target those lot owners.

"If you have a 15-acre tract of dead weeds, you should be cutting them back or irrigating them to minimize the fire hazard," he said. "We wouldn't have had this firestorm if the people who own the vacant lots below us practiced basic maintenance."

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.