Wildfires Blaze In Hawaii

Evacuation Orders For 5,000; Lone Road To Rest Of Island Closed

(AP) 
The only road connecting the village to the rest of the island was closed and parents were asked to pick up their children from school because buses weren't allowed through the area. Schools outside the town were asked to keep students from Waikoloa until it was safe for them to return.

The fire did not threaten hotels in Waikoloa Resort, about six miles away.

Nearly 150 county and federal personnel were working through the night to battle the blaze, with the help of four helicopters and eight bulldozers, Nakano said.

The evacuation order came after the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a request from Gov. Linda Lingle for a disaster declaration in the area. The declaration will make federal funding available to pay part of the state's firefighting costs.

The blaze started Monday as a small brush fire, Battalion Chief Curtis Matsui said.

On the mainland, officials in Washington state said residents of about 75 homes who had evacuated Monday when a wildfire closed in would be allowed to return home Wednesday.

However, residents of 70 other homes were under notice that they might have to evacuate in the area near Lake Wenatchee in central Washington. The blaze had charred nearly 1,000 acres and was only 20 percent contained.

Large fires also were active Tuesday in Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Utah, the National Interagency Fire Center reported. So far this year, wildfires have charred 4.7 million acres, compared with 5.5 million at the same time last year, the center said.