KAUNAKAKAI, Moloka'i — Firefighters have contained nearly 50 percent of a wildfire that has burned more than 8,000 acres on Moloka'i, but officials are worried the flames may once again threaten residential areas.

The fire, which started mauka of Kaunakakai on Saturday, is most active in the Makakupa'ia section of the Moloka'i Forest Reserve east of town, where rugged terrain and steep valleys make it difficult for firefighters to reach the flames. As of yesterday, up to 400 acres of the forest at around the 3,000-foot elevation had burned, mostly non-native plantation pines but also some native species such as kukui, said Laura H. Thielen, chairwoman of the Department of Land and Natural Resources.

The blaze also encroached on the southwest corner of the Kamakou Preserve, although so far no native resources had been affected, according to The Nature Conservancy, which manages the 2,774-acre preserve, an important watershed that is home to native trees, plants, insects and birds.

Thielen said the Hawai'i Army National Guard has been asked to supply Chinook helicopters for water drops today over the forest fire, joining other helicopters in the task.

In the meantime, fire crews and bulldozers have been working to create firebreaks to prevent the flames from burning up over a ridge at 'Onini Gulch and heading back downhill toward unburned areas leading to homes in Kawela, Thielen said.

A second firefighting front is keeping the blaze in check at Kalama'ula, west of Kaunakakai, said Maui County Civil Defense administrator Gen Iinuma. Firefighters also worked yesterday to stamp out flare-ups in areas that burned over the weekend, when dozens of homes and businesses were threatened.

On the job yesterday were 62 firefighters from Maui County, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy.

Iinuma said an expected increase in winds for the rest of the week could spell trouble for firefighting efforts.

Brenda Kaneshiro of family-owned honey producer Molokai Meli returned yesterday to the company's apiary in Kapa'akea, two miles east of Kaunakakai, that burned to the ground Sunday. The fire destroyed 33 colonies, each with approximately 40,000 bees.

Kaneshiro, who runs the business with her husband, Denny, said that when they arrived on the scene Sunday there was little time to save the hives.

Fearing that panicky bees would swarm neighbors and firefighters trying to protect properties from the flames, the Kaneshiros made the tough decision to close the entrances to the colonies to keep the insects from escaping.

"We didn't want the bees to interfere with the firefighting, so we chose to close the entrances so they wouldn't get out," she said. "It was a hard thing to do."

She estimated the apiary loss at $20,000, plus $18,000 in lost honey.

She said it will take two years to recover production losses.

Molokai Meli has another apiary about eight miles east of Kaunakakai that was spared, and Kaneshiro said the family plans to keep the business going.