(HILO, HAWAI‘I ISLAND) – Don’t let the winter’s rains fool you into thinking Hawai‘i won’t experience devastating wildfires anytime soon. As part of the annual Wildfire & Drought LOOKOUT! campaign, forecasters warned that the islands will begin experiencing drought conditions late this summer, that could extend all the way through next winter.
Wildfire
(WAIKOLOA, HAWAI‘I) – Fire managers from around the country got an up-close, post-fire tour of the Māna Road fire area on Thursday. They gathered on Hawai‘i Island this week for a state fire chiefs conference, along with meetings of the Western Fire Leadership Council and the Hawai‘i Wildfire Management Organization (HWMO).
(WAIMEA) – Today, day three of training on Hawai‘i Island, home assessors are conducting community wildfire risk assessments. These are not your typical home assessors who determine the value of your place, but specially trained people who will conduct free reviews of how safe a property and its structures are from the threat of wildfires.
(HONOLULU) – Each year wildfires burn thousands of acres of land in Hawai‘i impacting communities and natural resources. Dealing with serious fire threats to human safety, infrastructure, native ecosystems and wildlife, agricultural production, watersheds, and more, can leave both rural and urban communities overwhelmed.
(LIHUE) - This morning a critically endangered ‘akikiki received VIP treatment with a helicopter ride from a valley deep in the Alaka‘i Plateau to safety at the Maui Bird Conservation Center (MBCC).
(Waikōloa, Hawai‘i Island) – Just south of Waikōloa Village, the resort area, and mauka of Highway 190 near the Puu Lani Subdivision, a 17,000-acre wildfire has left a charred landscape. That’s 26.5-square-miles of burned land, that dozens of firefighters, supported by heavy equipment and air assets, have worked a week to extinguish. Today, they achieved 90 percent containment of the fire.
(WAIKŌLOA, HAWAI‘I) – 42 firefighters are back on the lines today in their effort to control the Leilani wildfire that sparked on Wednesday and was initially fueled by carpets of dry fountain grass and strong, gusty winds.
(Waikōloa, Hawai’i) – The size of the Leilani wildfire, now burning on Hawai‘i Island has been reduced to 16,400 acres, following formal aerial mapping today. The percentage of the fire contained remains at 30%.
(Waikoloa, Hawai’i) – Dozens of federal, state, and county firefighters are back on the lines this morning at the large Leilani wildfire.
(HONOLULU) - Worried about what to do during a potential wildfire? People living and working in East Honolulu have two opportunities on August 16 to attend a virtual meeting to have wildfire concerns heard and to begin the development of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).