The Puako community has had its fair share of brush-ups with wildfire. To kick off our series of Northwest Hawaii Island meetings to call upon community members to help us update the region's Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP), we held a public meeting on Wednesday, January 21st at the Hokuloa United Church-Christ in Puako. Even with the surge of waves that put on a show that day, we still had a solid, enthusiastic group of community members and firefighters who came out for the meeting. They helped provide insight to the wildfire concerns of the Puako/Waialae area, including fire ignition issues near Beach 69 and the Puako Boat Ramp. Participants also provided thoughtful solutions to the concerns, including ramping up fuels reduction projects and awareness campaigns in the area. To wrap it all up, participants voted on which concerns/solutions were their top priorities and placed stickers on their places of interest on a giant map of Northwest Hawaii Island that we printed and hauled over.
The next meeting will take place tonight, January 22nd, in Hawi at 6 P.M. at the Kohala Mission School.
The final meeting for Northwest Hawaii Island is scheduled for January 28th at 6 P.M. at the Waikoloa Community Room located next to Banjy's Restaurant.
Banner photo: Firefighters and local community members gather together to discuss wildfire concerns and solutions in the Puako/Waialea area.