Old Lahaina Town Utterly Destroyed - Recovery & Relief Efforts

[HiloJulie]

You can rest assured that some will see the fires and devastation as a sign which will embolden Westboro and may even generate one or more new “believers” of their hate fueled rhetoric.

[Or1on]

6 people dead on Maui .

Tears, grief and disbelief.  Now 36 and counting.

[HiloJulie]

Always amazing to see such human tragedy and sorrow met with such an immediate and incredible outpouring of love and support:

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/08/10...utType=amp

Let’s help (if you can) and get this to 5 million by tonight!

[AaronM]

Just donated and all I did was give back some money that Maui peeps donated to the Puna Strong fund from '18.

I know it's too early but we will need to have a discussion about the failure of our public officials to plan and implement the correct infrastructure to achieve greater fire control.

Yes, yes, act of god, perfect storm and shit happens, I know all the arguments but with this level of tragedy, changes will need to be made.

Simply creating and maintaining proper fire breaks is a good start.  Complacency is the enemy.

But I digress, R.I.P. and dig deep folks.

[dobanion]

Leeward sides of Hawaiian islands just had their collective wake up call. Guinea grass in particular provides a perfect fuel for a firestorm when aided by high winds. On Hawaii Island, Kohala, Kawaihae, Waikaloa, dry side Waimea, and Naalehu should take heed.

A lot of the precautions and preparedness of the western USA and Australia will need to be considered in the future.

If you have a wooden home under threat, consider a emergency exterior wildfire defense sprinkler system.

[Or1on]

Yeah that's what I heard too. Caused by brush fire outside Lahina and wind blew it in right? 

 Hawaii sugar companies came in, cleared the land and planted sugar.  Sugar companies decide business is no longer profitable and they're gone by 80s and 90s and land grows weeds.  Years and years of weed growth go untended on private land.  Weeds catch ablaze and turns into a fire maelstrom given a day of particular windy conditions.  Fire engulfs community.
What can be done to prevent this in future?  We need to learn from this.
  
My first thought is vegetation free buffer zone?  That wouldn't look much like tropical Hawaii you might see on postcards though. Hmm.

Planting trees around the outside of the city might help to slow down the winds and inhibit weed growth but trees can catch fire too.  California wildfires as an example.

[HiloJulie]

OMFG!

At 53 now confirmed lives lost, these fires in Maui are now close to the May 1960 tsunami that hit Hilo which saw 61 lives lost. 

Unbelievable.

[leilanidude]

Weeds catch ablaze
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Caused by humans. Maybe smokers, maybe a vehicle parked on side of road in dry grass?

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Puna Strong fund from '18
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There has never been a real accounting of that money and many think that much of it was misappropriated. Millions were donated from around the world...

[AaronM]

Hawaii is awash with misappropriated funds!  

Whether from government sources, corporate sources and yes, even non-profit sources.

Correct L-Dude, cigarettes and hot exhaust systems are potential culprits.  A large riparian zone on either side of the road could serve to neutralize those causes with an additional benefit of not allowing a blaze to easily jump to the other side of the road.  Lightning is another potential culprit but I have not kept up with the NFPA and their flip flop over ESE vis a vis standards 781 and 782.  Concrete utility poles can have embedded copper rods but that's another kettle of fish since most poles here are wooden.

It comes down to identifying fuel sources and neutralizing them asap which is a constant battle.  We can require that private landowners do just that but given what we know about Land & Power, I doubt any unfunded mandates will become law anytime soon.

Again, R.I.P. to all the souls taken in such a violent and terrifying way.  Also, R.I.P. to all the 4 legged friends.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Hawaii sugar companies came in, cleared the land and planted sugar.  … business is no longer profitable …and land grows weeds.  Years and years of weed growth go untended on private land.  Weeds catch ablaze

An astute observation.
Unintended consequences, but consequences nonetheless.