WAILUA, KAUAI (HawaiiNewsNow) - Kuhio Highway in Wailua has been reopened after a brush fire forced authorities to close it off early Friday, but firefighters are still on scene to extinguish remaining hot spots.
According to the Kauai Fire Department, the brush fire broke out at around 4:20 a.m. off Kuhio Highway near Aloha Beach Resort, where the fire was "dangerously close" to the highway.
Meanwhile, police closed off both directions of Kuhio Highway, between Leho Drive and the Wailua Golf Course, while firefighters battled the flames.
They reopened one lane of the highway shortly after 6 a.m. and opened the Wailua Cane Haul Access Road – an unpaved bypass road opened only during daylight hours during an emergency -- to southbound traffic. At around 6:45 a.m., police rerouted northbound traffic onto Leho Drive, allowing Kuhio Highway to be dedicated to southbound motorists.
Crews managed to get the flames under control at around 7 a.m., and the highway was fully reopened shortly after 8 a.m.
There were no reports of any injuries or damages to structures, according to fire officials.