Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization

HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION

501(c)3 Nonprofit
Organization

Founded in 2002

Collaborative

Proactive

Elizabeth Pickett
Executive Director
elizabeth@hawaiiwildfire.org

Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization
HawaiiWildfire.org PacificFireExchange.org
HWMO works with land managers, agencies, and communities to complete on the
ground projects include planning, mitigation, education
HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION
Statewide Wildfire Hazard Assessments
and Mapping
Subdivision Hazard
Ingress/ Egress
Road Maintenance
Road Width
All-season Road Condition
Fire Service Access
Street signs
Structure Density
Home Setbacks
Unmanaged lands
Private landowner actions /
Firewise landscaping and
defensible space
Proximity of subdivision to
wildland areas

Vegetation Hazard
Proximity of flammable fuels
around subdivision
Type of predominant vegetation
within 300 of homes
Fuel loading
Fuel structure and arrangement
Defensible Space/ Fuels reduction
around homes & structures

Building Hazard
Roofing Assembly
Siding/ Soffits
Under-skirting around decks,
lanais, post-and-pier structures.
Utilities Placement- Gas and
Electric
Structural Ignitability

Environmental Fire Hazard
Slope
Average rainfall
Prevailing wind speeds and
direction
Seasonal or periodic high hazard
conditions
Ignition risk
Topographical features that
adversely wildland fire behavior

Fire Protection Hazard
Water source availability
Response time
Proximity to fire station
Fire department structural training
and expertise
Wildland firefighting capacity of
initial response agency
Interagency Cooperation
Local emergency operations group
or other similar
Community planning practices and
ordinances
Community fire-safe efforts and
programs already in place





36 Hazards, Street-by-Street Assessments + Fire Department and DOFAW Expertise
HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION


Subdivision Hazard

Ingress/ Egress
Road Maintenance
Road Width
All-season Road Condition
Fire Service Access
Street signs
Structure Density
Home Setbacks
Unmanaged lands
Private landowner actions /
Firewise landscaping and
defensible space
Proximity of subdivision to
wildland areas

HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION


Vegetation Hazard

Proximity of flammable fuels
around subdivision
Type of predominant vegetation
within 300 of homes
Fuel loading
Fuel structure and arrangement
Defensible Space/ Fuels
reduction around homes &
structures

HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION


Building Hazard

Roofing Assembly
Siding/ Soffits
Under-skirting around decks,
lanais, post-and-pier structures.
Utilities Placement- Gas and
Electric
Structural Ignitability
HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION


Fire Environment
Hazard

Slope
Average rainfall
Prevailing wind speeds and
direction
Seasonal or periodic high
hazard conditions
Ignition risk
Topographical features that
adversely wildland fire
behavior
HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION


Fire Protection
Hazard

Water source availability
Response time
Proximity to fire station
Fire department structural
training and expertise
Wildland firefighting capacity of
initial response agency
Interagency Cooperation
Local emergency operations
group or other similar
Community planning practices
and ordinances
Community fire-safe efforts and
programs already in place
HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION
Current HWMO Projects
West Maui Community Wildfire Protection Plan
(CWPP)

Updates to all CWPPs more than 5 years old

Ready, Set, Go!

Outreach and Education on Hawaii Island and Maui
(homeowner workshops, K-12 Activities)

Continued fuels management in Waikoloa, Puako,
Wailea, and West Maui


3 Helicopter Diptanks and 3 Fuelbreaks in South
Kohala (Final stage of EA)

Pacific Fire Exchange









HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION
Wildland-Urban Interface

Pacific Fire Exchange
A Joint Fire Science Program
Knowledge Exchange Consortium
Formed 2011

Mission:
Facilitate fire knowledge exchange
and enable collaborative relationships
among Pacific stakeholders including
resource managers, fire responders,
researchers, landowners, and
communities.
Wildland-Urban Interface
Who is the Pacific Fire Exchange?

Three primary collaborators:







Region-wide Advisory Panel:
U
H
M
,

C
T
A
H
R

Wildland-Urban Interface
Who is the Pacific Fire Exchange?
Support for stakeholder decisions
Region specific science delivery
Applied research for best
management practices
On-the-ground implementation
Planning, fuels treatments, outreach
Stakeholder networks
Expanded research capacity
Funding resources
Long-term research sites
Wildland-Urban Interface
Accomplishments
Practitioner needs assessment; survey of
topical priorities
Website for fire science & management
knowledge sharing
Lessons learned webinars
HCC Fire Science Symposium
Expanded partnerships
Funding for Wildfire Specialist at UH
Pacific Fire Fellowship Program
Synthesis and dissemination of statewide fire
history data


Clay Trauernicht, Wildfire Extension Specialist
College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
University of Hawaii at Manoa



The scale of Hawaiis wildfire problem
Hawaii has a wildfire problem
0
5000
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15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
50000
T
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(
a
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Hawaii has a wildfire problem
Hawaii has a wildfire problem
Hawaii has a wildfire problem
Hawaii has a wildfire problem
>1000 wildfire ignitions per year
>17,000 acres burn per year
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
Hawaii
Maui
Oahu
Kauai
Molokai
Lanai
Wildfire ignitions
Area burned (acres)
Wildfire across the state
0 20000 40000 60000 80000 100000
Wildfire ignitions
Area burned (acres)
Area burned
Ignitions
Wildfire across land cover
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500
0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000
Hawaii lowland rainforest
Hawaii lowland mesic forest
Agriculture
Introduced dry forest
Introduced grass- and shrubland
Developed - high intensity
Developed - open space
Developed - medium intensity
Developed - low intensity
Wildfire ignitions
Area burned (acres)
Area burned
Ignitions
The national context
The national context
The national context
People and ignitions
24% of state land cover is nonnative grass-
and shrublands (>980,000 acres)
Flammable landscapes
10
15
20
F
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f
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M
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)
Tropical
savannas &
grasslands
5
Hawaii -
guinea grass
Hawaii -
fountain grass
N=52
N=15
N=11
Climate change
Wildland-Urban Interface
MAHALO! HAWAII WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION
PacificFireExchange.org HawaiiWildfire.org

@PacificFireSci @HawaiiWildfire