The Hawaii State Wildfire History HWMO spearheaded comes to life in this interactive map, made possible by our friends at UH Manoa, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR). Click around the map to locate wildfires that have occurred from 2002-2011 across the entire state and track down their sizes (acreage burned).
Check out this brand new resource to learn how the wildfire season went in Hawaii in 2017 with this Pacific Fire Exchange fact sheet. Download the full fact sheet by clicking the button below.
"Every wildfire incident is part of a larger pattern of wildfire occurrence and is an opportunity to gain experience and insight for wildfire management. Taking a look at both the big picture and individual fires can: Deepen and expand our understanding of wildfire drivers, behavior, and response; improve wildfire response, management, and science; reduce negative impacts on individuals, communities, natural resources, and response agency budgets."
Hawaii has a devastating wildfire problem. While under-publicized nationally, the scale and scope of wildfires in Hawaii are extreme. Take a look and please share widely!
The article, written by HWMO's Elizabeth Pickett and University of Hawaii's Andrew Pierce, is titled Building a Spatial Database of Fire Occurrence in Hawaii. Ms. Pickett and Dr. Pierce describe the arduous process of collecting, compiling, mapping, and analyzing years of wildfire ignition records from various fire response agencies.
With the help of US Forest Service funding and collaboration with the University of Hawaii, HWMO labored to collect fire event records from federal, state, and local fire agencies from across the board. In the spring of 2013, the HWMO staff spent countless hours putting together a massive spreadsheet with the records that they data checked and geo-located fire by fire.
