But could anything have been done?
State/County mandated fire breaks (fuel breaks) along the wild/urban interface, accomplished through grazing given the rapid plant growth, or "greenstrips" of living vegetation? Better training and tools for firefighters focused on wildfires and not just structural fires? Native ecosystem restoration? This and more is all discussed in The Contemporary Scale and Context of Wildfire in Hawai'i (2016) by Clay Trauernicht (et al.) who was quoted earlier in the thread.
Undergrounding power lines (1999)? Improved irrigation systems and water management (2022)?
Lots of things that could have been done, but weren't. The reason why is obvious from even a cursory read.
State/County mandated fire breaks (fuel breaks) along the wild/urban interface, accomplished through grazing given the rapid plant growth, or "greenstrips" of living vegetation? Better training and tools for firefighters focused on wildfires and not just structural fires? Native ecosystem restoration? This and more is all discussed in The Contemporary Scale and Context of Wildfire in Hawai'i (2016) by Clay Trauernicht (et al.) who was quoted earlier in the thread.
Undergrounding power lines (1999)? Improved irrigation systems and water management (2022)?
Lots of things that could have been done, but weren't. The reason why is obvious from even a cursory read.