As fire and police officials announced today that the nine recent brushfires in the Waiawa area may have been intentionally set, firefighters responded to two calls of brushfires reported in the area.

But unlike any of the other nine times, a witness reported seeing two men fleeing the scene after two fires were going on either side of the H-2 Freeway, said police Maj. Clayton Kau.

Since the beginning of August, firefighters have fought nine fires in the Waiawa area, said Honolulu Fire Department Chief Ken Silva in a press conference this morning. Initially firefighters had thought that they were responding to flare ups, not individual fires, Silva said.

"It taxes our limited resources," Silva said. "The fires appear to be intentionally set because of the multiple points of origins that are not natural occurrences and the frequency of the occurrences."
Just yesterday, firefighters believed they had contained the fire that had closed the H-2 Freeway north-bound two times before. The fire did not threaten structures and no injuries were reported.
Police and fire officials ask that anyone with information about the fires call 911 with a description of the suspects and a vehicle, if any, including a license plate number, Kau said.