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Capital Weather Gang

Record wildfire burns at least 40,000 acres on Hawaii’s Big Island, sets up mudslide danger

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August 3, 2021 at 5:49 p.m. EDT
Vehicles are backed up on Waikoloa Road after a mandatory evacuation was ordered as a wildfire approached the Waikoloa Village area of Hawaii on Aug. 1. A second emergency route was later opened to provide residents another way out. (Chelsea Jensen/West Hawaii Today/AP)

A brush fire that scorched at least 40,000 acres on Hawaii’s Big Island is the largest ever on the island, officials said, and the area burned may pose a risk for mudslides if there are heavy downpours in coming months.

Mandatory evacuations forced residents in three communities out of their homes over the weekend, but the orders were lifted late Sunday as conditions stabilized.