On October 10, Army training activity caused a brush fire that burned for 18 days and scorched more than 450 acres of the Wai\u02bbanae mountains.\u00a0The column of thick blackish brown smoke could be seen all the way from Honolulu. \u00a0In the Kona winds, the smoke blanketed the north shore for nearly a week.<\/p>\n
The news reported that the fire was “100% contained” on Monday, 10\/28\/2013.\u00a0The army claims<\/a> that no homes or endangered species were threatened by the fires:<\/p>\n The fire on Army and Dole Food Co. property has burned about 450 acres of brush land but posed no threat to facilities or endangered species, Army spokesman Dennis Drake said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n However it is impossible to know for certain what impacts the fire may have had on the ecosystem or on Native Hawaiian cultural sites until a thorough biological and cultural survey can be conducted. Furthermore,\u00a0the fire could have long term negative impacts on native ecosystems.<\/p>\n The Wai\u02bbanae mountains is an endangered species hot spot, with some extremely rare species found no where else in the world.\u00a0The more pernicious impact is the way that fires create space for invasive weeds to aggressively spread and transform the ecosystem in lasting ways. These weeds eventually can overtake native forests that may have been spared from the direct impact of the fire, but may succumb to the altered landscape in the future.<\/p>\n L\u012bhu\u02bbe (the location of the Army Schofield training range) was an important cultural and political center for O\u02bbahu chiefs. There are hundreds of cultural sites in the impact zone alone. It is unclear what cultural sites may have been affected by the fire.<\/p>\n In addition to respiratory problems caused by particulate matter (smoke particles and ash), contaminants in the training range, including explosives, energetics, lead and depleted uranium can be mobilized by fires. \u00a0There has been a reported increase in health problems in the surrounding area according to Hawaii News Now<\/a>:<\/p>\n