What began as burning trash on the North Shore quickly turned into a nightmare scorching 50-plus acres. It took firefighters eight hours to extinguish it yesterday morning.

The fire was started Saturday night by Wainiha resident Ray ‘Kuna’ Harada, Jr., county officials said.

Harada was cited for illegal burning after he admitted to police officers that he was burning rubbish when the fire got out of control.

The property’s co-owner, Keith Robinson, said he was disheartened and angry over the loss.

“It’s my personal opinion that there was absolutely no cause to be burning rubbish in that particular area”, Robinson said.

“I plan to look a little further into trespassing charges.”

Firefighters received a call around 6 p.m. Saturday informing them of a brush fire that began on private land owned on the mauka side of Wainiha Powerhouse Road.

Rescue specialists from the Hanalei, Kapa’a and Lihue fire stations responded to the fire, said Mary Daubert, county spokeswoman.

Around 7 p.m., an Inter Island helicopter assisted the Kaua’i Fire Department by making water drops.

The fire was extinguished around 2 a.m. yesterday morning, Daubert said.

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(Source: Amanda C. Gregg, Kauai Garden Island News)