Posted on 08/19/23
| News Source: The Hill
While residents of Hawaii are well-acquainted with fleeing from tsunami waves, hurricane winds and volcanic ash, much of western Maui was caught off guard last week when a string of fatal fires tore through the island’s flammable foothills.
In the wake of the devastating blaze, wildfire experts are calling for the state and its denizens to take steps to better protect against similar disasters in the future.
“Over the last few years, the wildfire risk there has increased more quickly than then our ability to raise awareness throughout the population,” wildland fire consultant Pat Durland, who is also a board member Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization, told The Hill.
“One of the few good things that comes out of this, of course, is that maybe that will encourage folks to take action and realize that they have control,” Durland said.
The Maui wildfires are the deadliest to hit the country in more than century, and have wreaked widespread destruction on the island.
The Olinda, Kula, Lahaina and Pulehu/Kihei fires, all first reported on Aug. 8, were linked to at least 111 confirmed fatalities as of Thursday night, according to Maui County. As the blaze jumped from dry grasses to urban areas, much of the historic Lahaina was also destroyed. Officials warned that only 58 percent of the affected areas had been searched for missing individuals at that time.
But prior to the disaster’s outbreak, wildfire wasn’t considered the biggest threat to the state.