Aloha Friend,

On Friday of last week, Governor Josh Green proclaimed May as Wildfire Mitigation and Risk Reduction Preparedness Month.

“We are taking steps to prevent future wildfires in our state,” Governor Green said, “including helping people keep their homes as fire-safe as possible, and preparing for quick evacuation if needed.”

According to the nonprofit Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, more than 98% of wildfires in Hawaii are caused by human activity — including campfires, open flames, improper cigarette disposal, and equipment malfunction.

“We need to do better and we can do better in preventing wildfires,” Governor Green said.

The governor stressed the importance of wildfire mitigation efforts, and administration officials provided valuable information on how residents can reduce their risk of wildfire damage.

The Green administration has already:

• Approved 40 Remote Automatic Weather Stations for deployment around the islands


• Begun installation, with federal partners, of a total of 80 fire-detection sensors with 24-hour alerting capabilities


• Continued collaboration with federal partners, nonprofit organizations and local communities for future resilience


• Revamped siren protocols in conjunction with the counties


• Reestablished a state Fire Marshal

Governor Green also proposed that the state create defensible spaces around homes, develop mapped-out evacuation plans, and engage in community-wide preparedness initiatives to mitigate the impact of fires.

“We are now past the nine-month mark since the disastrous fires on Maui,” Governor Green said, “and of the initial 3,071 households that were displaced, over 80% have been able to get into long-term housing. We intend to build well over 1,000 transitional houses for affected families.”

Of the 1,502 residential lots on Maui that needed to be cleared after the fires last August, 391 have been cleared and returned to their owners, while 971 more have had basic clearance but still need to go through final steps before being returned to families.

“The state has approved 40 Remote Automatic Weather Stations to provide updated data to the National Weather Service," Governor Green said, "enhancing awareness for people through additional observation points on the ground and improving abilities to predict and assess potential risks."

The Department of Land and Natural Resources and Department of Transportation are working together to bring in the Remote Automatic Weather Stations, at a cost of about $1 million.

We will continue to keep you updated as Josh takes further action to prevent wildfires and mitigate the risk of fire damage across the state.

If you support Josh’s efforts to protect Hawaii from future disasters, please consider chipping in a donation today.

Mahalo,

Team Green