WAIALUA, Hawaii -- Honolulu firefighters spent Sunday battling a major brushfire on Oahu's North Shore that scorched more than 1,000 acres and prompted authorities to evacuated dozens of residents.

The first call to the Honolulu Fire Department came in just after 2 p.m. on Sunday at the Dole Pineapple fields between Kamehameha and Farrington Highways.

"Whenever the wind is strong it pushes the flames. There's a lot of dry brush in this area, and the terrain is uneven and there's a lot of gulches in this area. All of that combines to make it a fast moving and difficult to reach fire," HFD Capt. Terry Seelig said.

As the fire spread closer to homes on Hukilau Loop and Kuape Road, emergency teams evacuated about 50 residents from their homes.

"They needed to move because the fire was coming closer to their houses. There was cooperation from the residents moving. They could see the obvious conditions," Seelig said.

The residents were initially sent to the Waialua Recreation Center for shelter, but with power shut down in most of Waialua authorities redirected the evacuees to the Whitmore Community Center near Wahiawa.

The Red Cross is assisting with the shelter for the evacuees. The residents may have to wait through the night until they can safely return to their homes.

"Even with the fire under control, when it becomes under control in that area, we will still have companies on the road. For the safety of the crews operating we're going to keep it shut down until we have the situation secure in that area," Seelig said.

Authorities said they planned to keep Kaukonahua Road and the southbound lanes of Farrington Highway in Waialua closed on Sunday night.