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WAIANAE BRUSH FIRE

Seeds planted for farm's revival
A Leeward cultural learning center sees opportunity amid the ashes

By Gregg K. Kakesako 

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jun 13, 2012

Oahu's largest brush fire this year swept through Waianae and Lualualei valleys charring almost 1,200 acres, but leaving 100 acres near the Waianae Kai Forest Reserve mostly untouched — except for a nearly 3-decade-old, 30-foot Hawaiian grass hale.

"There were fireballs everywhere," said Eric Enos, co-founder and executive director of Kaala Farm Cultural Learning Center. "Some of them hit the hale, and the grass went up in flames. The fire was so fierce."

Enos estimated that it will cost more than $150,000 to replace the hale, built in the mid-1980s. But the real loss of a structure that has come to symbolize Hawaiian culture in a place used for teaching, cultural ceremonies and gatherings may be immeasurable.

The wildfire fire began June 4 at Radford Street and Kolekole Road on Naval Magazine Lualualei. It spread into the forest reserve. The Navy said Tuesday that it could not determine how the fire started.

By June 5 the fire was threatening the upper regions of the Waianae Valley and Kaala Farm, at the end of Waianae Valley Road about three miles mauka of Farrington Highway.

Enos said fire destroyed much of its water pipe system that feeds numerous taro-patch terraces and other crops and vegetation on the property. Two PVC pipes — each a mile long — that supplied water to the center's loi also were destroyed.

The taro patches are part of an ancient terrace system uncovered and restored by Enos and colleagues decades ago. "Today the terraces are an important resource for educating people on traditional Hawaiian agricultural and sustainability practices," Enos said.

Volunteers spent the Kamehameha Day weekend replacing the pipelines bought with some of the funds from a $5,000 grant from Kiewit Building Group, a general contracting and construction management company, and a $2,500 grant from Pacific Links Hawaii, which owns and operates golf courses in Hawaii including Makaha and Kapolei, to partially pay for the work. Enos estimated that it will take upward of $15,000 to complete repairs to the water system.

"I've watched and admired the work of Eric Enos and Kaala Farm for some time," said Lance Wilhelm, senior vice president and Hawaii area manager at Kiewit Building Group. "They have overcome adversity in the past, and I have every confidence that Eric will take this misfortune and turn it into yet another opportunity to learn, teach and grow. We are grateful to be able to provide even this small measure of support at this critical time.We also want to encourage others who have benefited from Kaala's programs and those interested in the continued perpetuation of our native practices to come forward at this time and give back to an organization that gives so much to our community."

Micah Kane, chief operating officer of Pacific Links Hawaii, said, "Kaala Farm is a valuable community resource for many reasons. Their educational programs are helping people relearn many of the traditional Hawaiian conservation and sustainability practices that were once a way of life."

The grants were "seed money" to help the cultural center begin to rebuild, said Kane, who also said he hadn't experienced a brush fire of that magnitude.

Wilhelm said "the seed money" will help Kaala Farm grow. "They are doing tremendous work for the community."

"They did a remarkable job of clearing the area and restoring it before the fire. They have done a beautiful job."

Enos said this was the first time a wildfire has threatened the Makaha side of the valley since 1970.

Besides the large grass hale, a compost toilet and a grove of lau hala trees also went up in flames.

However, much of the loi and other areas in the center were spared.

Enos described the area as being like "kipuka" — which he described as the area that is spared during a lava flow. "It's like when the lava goes around an old forest area, sparing it. It's a sanctuary because that's where seeds come.

"We've become a kipuka — for us now is the time for regrowth and restoration — bringing people together, so the culture of the land survives."

He said that it will take upward of $150,000 to rebuild the hale, which was styled after a canoe hale found in the City of Refuge in Kona.

Ohia logs will have to be cut and brought in from Hawaii island, Enos added.

However, he said the rebuilding of the hale will be used as a workshop for the Waianae community.

"We hope to use the opportunity to bring the community together. It is important to have a place of refuge to talk about the land, water and self-sufficiency."

Kaala Farm was established as a Model Cities Waianae Rap Center in 1976, and organizers purchased the Waianae Valley land from the state. More than 4,000 students and 2,500 adults participate in its educational programs annually, according to its organizers.

Enos said, "Its mission is to reclaim, preserve and practice the living culture of the poe kahiko (people of old) in order to strengthen the kinship relationships between the aina (land which nourishes) and all forms of life necessary to sustain the balance of life on these vulnerable islands."