Fire closes West Hawaii greenwaste sites

WAIKOLOA — The Kealakehe and Waimea greenwaste sites closed Monday until further notice.

That’s because West Hawaii Organics Facility in Waikoloa, where those sites take their greenwaste, closed due to the smoke caused by a fire.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

Hawaiian Earth Recyling employees are currently working to contain the fire, which the Puako Fire Department advised them to do. Marvin Min, general manager at Hawaiian Earth Recycling, said his team could handle the fire.

“When you look at our water trucks, you can see that we have a lot more capacity than their fire trucks,” Min said. “We have the large water tank … we can drive up to the spots and wet down the area.”

Min also added that because of the calm winds at the time the fire started, it has been easier to handle.

Bill Kurcharski, director of Environmental Management, stated that the fire has impacted the transfer stations in the nearby areas.

“The fire affects Waimea because we collect greenwaste there and then transport it to Puuanahulu for processing,” he said.

“Since we cannot take the greenwaste anywhere, it does affect the collection at Waimea.”

Kurcharski said he hopes that the fires will be out by today and said that once they are out, he will be able to determine when the greenwaste sites will be reopened.