Name: Wildfire in Hawaii, October 6, 2002
Start: 2002-10-06T14:00
End: 2002-10-06T17:30
Location: Hawaii

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS HFO wrote it up.

A brush fire scorched about 60 acres of mature sugar cane a mile above Hana Highway near Maliko Gulch. Maui firefighters used several fire engines and the Air One helicopter to get the blaze under control. The cause of the fire was not immediately determined, but officials believed that arcing from nearby power lines may have ignited it.Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company, the owner of the sugar cane, estimated its value at $300,000. However, the company said it would still be able to harvest and process the mature cane. A spokesman said, "It was cane that was ready to be harvested, so it was not a lost cause."

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Honolulu, HI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 6, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 6, 10:00 AM HST, 4 hours before

HAWAIIAN ISLANDS SYNOPTIC DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HONOLULU HI
10 AM HST SUN OCT 6 2002

SUMMARY...PLEASANT TRADE WIND WEATHER...COURTESY OF A HIGH PRESSURE
RIDGE TO THE NORTH...WILL LAST THROUGH THIS WEEK. A LOT OF SUNSHINE
IS EXPECTED...ALONG WITH ISOLATED SHOWERS OVER WINDWARD AND MOUNTAIN
AREAS.

DISCUSSION...THE NORTH PACIFIC HIGH WILL LINGER OFF THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST COAST THIS WEEK. A RIDGE EXTENDING SOUTHWEST FROM THE HIGH
CENTER WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE ISLANDS. THE PRESSURE GRADIENT SOUTH
OF THE RIDGE WILL SUPPORT MODERATE TRADES ACROSS THE STATE. AN UPPER
LEVEL LOW CENTERED NORTHEAST OF HAWAII NEAR 26N 143W IS MOVING TO
THE NORTHWEST AND SHOULD HAVE LITTLE OR NO EFFECT ON ISLAND WEATHER.
SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A PATCH OF SHOWER-BEARING CLOUDS THAT WILL
WET HILO AND PUNA...AND PERHAPS PORTIONS OF KAU IN SHORT ORDER. THE
SHOWERS SHOULD BE WELL DOWNWIND OF THE BIG ISLAND BY TONIGHT. NO
OTHER SUSPICIOUS LOOKING CLOUD PATCHES...BANDS...LINES OR WHATNOT
CAN BE SEEN UPWIND OF THE STATE. SHOULD THEREFORE BE A DRY NIGHT
TONIGHT. FINALLY...CIRRUS CLOUDS SPILLING OVER AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE
JUST WEST OF THE STATE WILL ON OCCASION PASS OVER KAUAI...BUT SHOULD
DISSIPATE AS THEY HEAD DOWN TOWARDS THE BIG ISLAND. THE HIGH CLOUDS
ARE DEBRIS FROM THUNDERSTORMS SEVERAL HUNDRED MILES WEST OF KAUAI.
CRAIG.

.HFO...WARNINGS...WATCHES...NONE
.      ADVISORIES...HIGH SURF EAST SHORES CANCELLED AT 830 AM HST

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Maui

When: October 6, 2:00 PM HST to 5:30 PM HST
Where: Maui County, 2 mi W of Haiku
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 20.868, -156.617 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire: A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Hawaii in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Hawaii, October 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5325178.