Polipoli Fire on Haleakala

I have been getting quite a few hits to the blog from the search words "Polipoli Fire." So I went out and did a video update for Saturday 1-27-07 at 1:30pm. This was just before the regular mauka clouds formed and began to obscure the mountain and the fire from view.

These videos I have been doing make it obvious why cameras have tripod connections and why you see cameramen doing film work on railroad like tracks and a person behind them helping to keep them still. How far I will go in this matter is yet to be seen.

The winds have switched to the opposite direction and we now have stronger Kona winds in front of an approaching cold front. This front could bring rain which would sure help. Yesterday on the radio I heard some spokesperson saying Kona winds could be a good thing because the fire would turn back on itself and re-burn what had already burned.

Last night the fire seemed almost done. There was very little flame to see on the mountain in the dark. By this morning it had gained strength and smoke was billowing off the mountain again.

The video is not very good in the sense of clarity, but it will give you an idea of the elevation the fire is burning at and the large area it has spread over. It is burning at both ends of the Polipoli forest now, the entire distance of the pan of the camera over the face of Haleakala.



I wonder if this fire may force the state and county to get serious about the large herds of Axis deer that roam freely all over Haleakala. The fire is spread over such a large area it must be sending the deer fleeing in all directions making it a lot harder to ignore them.