Waikoloa Village wildfire evacuation concerns spur county traffic study

Hawaii County held a Waikoloa Evacuation Traffic Study discussion July 14 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Waikoloa Village Association Golf Banquet Room, 68-1792 Melia St., and the 200-acre wildfire that forced partial evacuations at the edge of the community last week dominated the room. The meeting turned on a basic question for Waikoloa Village: whether families, kūpuna and first responders could get out fast enough if another fire cut across the road network.

The fire was first reported around 4:20 p.m. on the south side of Waikoloa Road. Limited evacuations were lifted Friday night after the blaze moved away from populated areas, and at 9 p.m. the Hawaii Fire Department’s temporary fire chief said the fire was 50-percent contained and 15 personnel would keep working overnight. The quick shift from evacuation to containment underscored how fast conditions can change when flames push toward homes in South Kohala.

County officials have been studying evacuation traffic since a Jan. 9 public meeting launched the Waikoloa Village Evacuation Traffic Study. After the latest scare, the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency posted the study results and set an Aug. 31 deadline at 4:30 p.m. for comments. Construction of another evacuation route from Kamakoa Drive to Queen Kaahumanu Highway was also scheduled to start that week, moving the county’s response from planning into road work.

The concern in Waikoloa is tied to the area’s road layout. South Kohala’s major routes include Waikoloa Beach Road, Queen Kaahumanu Highway, Mauna Lani Drive, Puako Beach Drive and Hapuna Beach Road, and residents worry that even a brief bottleneck could trap traffic when an emergency hits. The county meeting made the next task plain: tighten traffic flow, expand route capacity and close communication gaps before the next wildfire reaches the village.