Cane Fire and Full Moon

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To the dismay of many Maui residents, HC&S still harvests sugar cane

by burning. Several acres are dried for weeks by turning off

irrigation, then the periphery is torched with gasoline. The air

rushing in from all sides creates an enormous inferno. Imagine several

acres of 12 foot-high cane burning. The conflagration is impossible to

appreciate without first-hand experience. The sound initially is

similar to that of popping corn. Then it becomes thunderous. People

who have experienced the terrible roar of tornados have told me it is

the same. The flames rise hundreds of feet. The smoke column rises as

high as ten thousand feet, spreading toxic ash of cane and vaporized

plastic irrigation pipe dozens of miles down-wind. In the day this

scene looks exactly like an atom bomb's mushroom cloud. From a

distance it has a strange, sinister beauty. This woke us at 4 am,

about a mile from our home. The pines and palms are at the edge of a

lush golf course between us and the fire. The view is west toward the

West Maui Mountains from 2000 ft up Haleakala volcano. The lights of

the town of Kahului, at sea level in the central valley can be seen

left and right. The West Maui Mountains are illuminated by the full moon.

VL

Although they look as if they are part of the fire, the pines and palms are at a safe distance on the near side.

VL