AS SEEN ON FREE HAWAI`I TV YESTERDAY - WHAT ARE OTHER HIGH RISK AREAS FOR WILDFIRES?
As far back as 2015, the devastated Lahaina was reported among the areas across Hawai‘i most at risk for wildfires. Yet it’s not the only neighborhood across the Islands identified as high risk.
The Hawai‘i Wildfire Management Organization initiated a project to better understand the hazards and determine what could be done to prevent fires and kick-start collaboration.
The following maps they provided us show the communities facing the highest risk, which include most of the developed western coastal communities across the primary Hawaiian Islands, and other scattered spots across each island. The gray areas represent wildland areas that were not assessed.
On O‘ahu, those areas include the Mākaha, Waianae, Nānākuli Coast and upland areas, which have been fire hotspots. But it also includes some of urban Honolulu’s most densely populated areas and much of the East Honolulu coastline and upland area as well as Hale‘iwa and Waialua on the North Shore and much of the Kāne‘ohe community and part of Kailua.
On Maui, the maps show high risk not only in Lahaina, Ka‘anapali, Kīhei and Upcountry but also in urban Wailuku and the southern coast.
And for Hawai‘i Island, the red zones include Kawaihae, Waimea, Waikoloa, Kailua-Kona, South Kona, Hawaiian Ocean View and Nā‘ālehu, many spots where fires have already erupted this summer.
On Moloka‘i, swaths of high risk cover the west side as well as the communities of Ho‘olehua and Kaunakakai. Lana‘i shows smaller hotspotsOn Moloka‘i, swaths of high risk cover the west side as well as the communities of Ho‘olehua and Kaunakakai. Lana‘i shows smaller hotspots.
On Kaua‘i, the map shows high risk for the largest city of Līhu‘e, as well as Anahola, Kapa‘a, Wailua, Koloa, Waimea…
