Community Meetings

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Puu Kapu Neighborhood Watch Presentation

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Puu Kapu fire in April 2016. Photo credit: Brian Powers

Puu Kapu homesteads in Waimea on the Big Island was affected by a couple of wildfires earlier in 2016. One of the fires, back in April, was captured through the lens of local photographer Brian Powers. A home was surrounded by smoke and flames, but firefighters were courageously able to stop the fire from overtaking the structure. The harrowing experience, however, is just one of the many reminders that Puu Kapu is susceptible to fires, especially during drier periods. 

Officer May Lee giving a presentation to Puu Kapu Neighborhood Watch.

Hawaii Police Department’s Officer May Lee (South Kohala Community Police Officer) has been working with Puu Kapu and other local neighborhoods to create Neighborhood Watch groups. With fire on the mind due to recent events, Officer Lee invited HWMO to speak to Puu Kapu Neighborhood Watch members about wildfire preparedness. Community Outreach Coordinator Pablo Beimler, on September 29, met with residents at the DHHL meeting room in Waimea and gave a presentation detailing the Wildfire & Drought Look Out! campaign and the Ready, Set, Go! and Firewise Communities Recognition programs. Meeting participants were interested in the idea of Puu Kapu becoming a Firewise Community, which would potentially add another community to an already long list of new certified communities that HWMO is currently working with. 

Banner photo credit: Brian Powers

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Waikoloa Fire Management Action Committee First Meeting

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Presenting the new Fire Management Action Committee along with Board President Amy Swan (third from left) and GM Roger Wehrsig (third from right).

The Waikoloa Village Association recently took a major leap in sustaining wildfire preparedness actions by creating an official Fire Management Action Committee. Our dear friend and HWMO Fundraising Committee, Mark Gordon, stepped into the role of chairperson and recruited three other residents to be a part of the committee: Wayne Awai, Beverly Brand, and Dave Faucette. Each member will bring a unique toolset and knowledge of the area to the table.

On August 25th, the committee met for the first time at the Waikoloa Village Association conference room. HWMO’s Pablo Beimler joined the committee, as well as Board President Amy Swan and WVA General Manager Roger Wehrsig, for a discussion on the Firewise Communities Recognition Program. The group decided to work with HWMO to achieve Firewise certification for 2016, scheduling a community hazard assessment for mid-September as a next step.

Big mahalo to Ms. Swan, Mr. Wehrsig, and the entire Fire Management Action Committee for inviting us to be a part of the discussion and continuing a long-standing partnership between HWMO and the Waikoloa Village Association.

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Puako Firewise Community Recruitment Meeting

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Historically known as a Hawaiian fishing village, Puako is now host to over 150 homes which have been threatened countless times from wildfires. The community is directly bordered by a large, dense kiawe forest that can carry fires quickly towards homes. Starting in 2003, HWMO linked with Puako Community Association to provide technical assistance in planning and creating a fuelbreak to protect homes from the kiawe wildland. The fuelbreak has received much applause from emergency responders in Hawaii and even from the U.S. and other countries. The Puako Community Association has been successfully maintaining the fuelbreak for a decade or so now.

A group of the dozen or so Puako community members ready to take part in the Firewise Communities Recognition Program.

A new chapter is opening for the coastal community: they will be working towards Firewise Communities certification through HWMO’s assistance. Puako is one of at least ten communities statewide that are working with HWMO to increase their community-wide wildfire readiness through the Firewise Communities program. 

On August 18th, HWMO Community Outreach Coordinator Pablo Beimler met with a dozen Puako community members who wanted to learn more about the Firewise certification process. A majority of them pledged to take part in whatever capacity they could offer, including being a part of a Firewise Committee or helping organize community preparedness events. 

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Paauilo Mauka and Kalopa CA Annual Gathering

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HWMO’s Pablo Beimler met with Paauilo Mauka and Kalopa Community Association (PMKCA) members twice during the month of July. On July 14th, Pablo proposed to the PMKCA Board the possibility of partnering to help the area become a Firewise Community. It would certainly be a unique opportunity, given the community’s location on the wetter side of Hawaii Island along the Hamakua Coast. 

Paauilo volunteer firefighter shares an update on new resources including new radios.

Although the Paauilo Mauka and Kalopa area receives an average of 100 or more inches of rain a year, drought conditions can create dangerous wildfire conditions that have led to some historic fires in the past. 

Joe Clarkson, President of the PMKCA, noted in a recent Hamakua Times post:

“After a severe drought in 1901, several large fires broke out in Hamakua, affecting areas from ‘O’okala to Kalopa. The following excerpt from P. Quentin Tomich’s Perspectives on Hamakua History describes the effects of these fires-

…the first fire started on 3 July in lands of a Niupea homesteader, and spread through several coffee plantations as well as into government lease lands. Thence the fire branched into cane lands of ‘O’okala and Ka’ala…, Kuka’iau and Koholalele…

A second fire started on homesteads in Pohakea and spread to lots in Ka’apahu. A third blaze, largest in area, began in Ka’ohe and was traced to careless honey hunters smoking out bees… It destroyed much coffee and cane land and burned out only when it reached the broad gorge of Kalopa Gulch.

It should be noted that the burned areas included dense rainforest above ‘O’okala to elevations of 4,500 feet, an area and type of forest that most folks would now think impossible to catch on fire. But it was observed at the time that there was “complete destruction of former existing tropical forest and great injury to soil by the depth (over six feet) to which the fire had penetrated”.

Part of our mission is to ensure intense wildfires like impact communities as little as possible. Pablo gave a presentation to 40 PMKCA members on July 30th at the North Hawaii Education and Research Center in Honokaa. He gave a brief overview about the Firewise Communities program and how HWMO could assist the community in working towards Firewise Recognition and overall wildfire readiness.

PMKCA is a step ahead in terms of community emergency response as they now have a new CERT trailer.

“Just imagine,” said Joe Clarkson, “the fire potential of thousands of acres of eucalyptus plantations (including harvest areas full of debris and tall grass), fallow guinea grass range land, forests of ironwood and gulch jungles of dead rose apple and waiwi, all desiccated by months of severe drought.

In addition to the 1901 drought, severe drought, with accompanying fires, affected Hamakua in the early and middle 1960s, with the 1965 drought being exceptionally extreme. It has been decades since a really severe drought has affected Hamakua, but one can and will happen, we just don’t know when.”

Banner photo credit: Island Friend/Flickr

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Waimea Non-Partisan Candidate Forum

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Election season is right around the corner and their is much buzz about who will be the next mayor, state representatives, and county council members. With the purpose of informing the general public about where each of the local candidates stand, Waimea Community Association held a non-partisan informational Candidate Forum at the HPA Taylor Commons on the evening of July 7th. 

A view of the event from the HWMO informational booth.

HWMO Community Outreach Coordinator, Pablo Beimler, set-up a booth to share with the nearly 100 attendees and candidates information on wildfire readiness. Many took home Native Firewise Plant bookmarks and Ready, Set, Go! Guides. 

Candidate for State House of Reps, David Tarnas, addresses questions posed by community members during speed-dating.

Along with having an informational booth, HWMO was a co-sponsor of the forum with North Hawaii Rotary, Hawaii Preparatory Academy, Waimea Middle School, Friends of the Future, Malaai School Garden, Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, and Blue Zones Project - North Hawaii.

Most of the event consisted of a “speed-dating” session where people broke into small groups and asked questions one on one with each candidate. The candidates were:

* Hawai’i County mayoral race: Pete Hoffman, Harry Kim, Wally Lau, and Shannon McCandless

* Hawai’i County Council District 9: Tim Richards and Margaret Wille 

* State House District 7: Jeffery Coakley, Cindy Evans, and David Tarnas

Pablo sat in at one of the tables as each candidate visited, eager to hear their take on emergency management issues and have wildfire be a topic of discussion. 

We were excited to see democracy in action and we hope you will be, too, this election cycle. 

Important election dates

July 14th - voter registration deadline
August 6th - application for absentee ballot deadline
August 13th - primary election

Waimea Candidate Forum 7/7/16
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Kahikinui Fire 2016 Post-Burn Site Visit with LHWRP

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20 miles, or 40 minutes, of driving distance from the nearest fire station requires a different kind of thinking when it comes to wildfire preparedness. That is exactly what Kahikinui residents on Maui constantly have in mind given they are in a very fire prone and hazardous region. Just within the past decade or so, the community has experienced 5 major wildfires, most recently in February of this year. The recent wildfire burned right to the edge of homes, scalding 5,300 acres in its path. A month later, a flareup of the fire led firefighting efforts up into the difficult-to-access mauka forests. Road access, given the topography and limited infrastructure in Kahikinui, made for a challenging firefight. 

Getting ready for a bumpy ride through the scorched landscape.

Clay Trauernicht of UH CTAHR Cooperative Extension/PFX (middle) ground-truths wildfire intensity maps.

On June 29th, Leeward Haleakala Watershed Restoration Partnership invited Pablo Beimler (HWMO), Melissa Kunz (HWMO/PFX), and Clay Trauernicht (UH Coop Extension, CTAHR) on a site visit of the recent burn. LHWRP’s Andrea Buckman and Keahi Bustamante, who have worked together in the area for numerous years, led everyone on a bumpy ride through the burned areas. What they saw was a scorched landscape from makai to up mauka that included torched fencelines, warped water tanks, toasted PVC irrigation lines, and scalded wiliwili trees. There are hundreds more wiliwili and other native plants in this biodiverse stretch of leeward Maui that the Leeward Haleakala Watershed Partnership and Kahikinui residents and businesses are working together to protect. 

Fenceposts, water tanks, and wiliwili trees among other infrastructure and native plants were scorched by the wildfire.

Even ferns within the wetter mauka gulches were burnt to a crisp.

The site visit was mostly a sneak preview for a late-July field tour PFX will host, inviting various agency and community stakeholders to join. Pablo was also able to collect initial information for the hazard assessment that HWMO will put together for Kahikinui community in their pursuit of becoming a Firewise Community this year. 

We met with community members after the tour and were humbled by the stories they had to share. Since the early '90s, the Hawaiian families that reclaimed DHHL land are working to revive their ancestral lands and live off the grid even in the face of the 5 major fires in the past decade or so. Their grit, perseverance, sense of community, and love for the aina will all be assets as they work to achieve Firewise Certification. Facing the challenges with wildfires in Kahikinui will require uniting all stakeholders, from neighboring ranches to fire agencies to the watershed partnership, for the common goal of creating a Fire Adapted Community.

Kahikinui Post-Fire Site Visit with LHWRP 6/29/16
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Waimea Community Association June Meeting

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Although recent rains have helped alleviate some of the drought stress on our islands, the longer drought outlook is still uncertain and there is still some alarm about a dry summer and thus higher wildfire activity.

Pablo Beimler speaks with community member about wildfire preparedness.

To keep the buzz going about wildfire and drought, HWMO’s Pablo Beimler and Melissa Kunz set-up an information booth at the June 2nd Waimea Community Association monthly meeting at the Waimea Elementary School cafeteria. They primarily shared information with Waimea residents about the Wildfire & Drought Look Out! campaign, Ready Set Go!, and the newest PFX fact sheet on grazing for fuels management. Over 30 residents and political officials and candidates stopped by - the meeting began with updates from County Councilwoman Margaret Wille, Senator Lorraine Inouye, and Representative Cindy Evans (State House of Rep. candidate David Tarnus was also in attendance). 

Pablo speaks to dozens of Waimea residents about wildfire preparedness in these times of drought.

Pablo followed with a presentation about the Wildfire & Drought Look Out! campaign, sharing quick tips on fire prevention and home preparedness. On the preparedness side, homeowners or renters could focus on three aspects: Hardening the Home, Lightening the Landscape, and Planning Ahead. Pablo also had the special opportunity to thank Senator Inouye and Representative Evans on behalf of HWMO for their push to successfully have our State Grant-In-Aid request approved by the legislature. We are very grateful for their support and excited about the possibilities for ramping up our outreach efforts as a result of the new grant.

HFD firefighters from Waimea’s volunteer station were also in attendance and were congratulated for their Grant-In-Aid reward. They will now have the funds to build up their station in the Kanehoa area.

New Civil Defense Administrator Ed Teixeira gives a 2016 Hurricane Outlook update.

The final presenter was the new interim administrator of Hawaii County Civil Defense, Ed Teixeira. Formerly the Hawaii State Civil Defense vice director, Mr. Teixeira has an incredible amount of experience in emergency management under his belt - we are excited to work with him over the next few months (and hopefully further into the future). We mahalo newly retired administrator Chief Darryl Oliveira for his service with Civil Defense over the past few years. And of course, we’ll miss the great Civil Defense updates he gave. Mr. Teixeira has some big shoes to fill, but he is already doing a great job in his new position. He kept residents engaged at the tail-end of the meeting with an update on the 2016 hurricane season projections (in a nutshell: we are expecting a few more hurricanes than originally predicted). As with any emergency, prepare early! 

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North Shore Neighborhood Board Meeting Presentation

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The actions of a single community member can make a significant difference moving a neighborhood to action. Jim Frisbie, a resident of Waialua on the North Shore of Oahu, was inspired to action by a personal experience within his neighborhood that quickly turned into a call to action supported by a broad coalition of agencies and people. 

On March 22nd, Pablo Beimler flew to Oahu to meet with Jim to tour the wildfire hazards in his neighborhood. Weed abatement was the topic of priority concern for Jim, who was able to hold a half-hour block of that night's North Shore Neighborhood Board Meeting to discuss a motion he hoped to pass. To give background on the wildfire situation on the North Shore and ways people can prevent and prepare for wildfires, Jim invited Mr. Beimler, HFD Prevention Chief Terry Seelig, and University of Hawaii CTAHR Wildfire Extension Specialist Clay Trauernicht to speak to the board of fifteen. That night, fifty or so people listened in to what each representative had to say regarding wildfire and the importance of community action. Mr. Beimler highlighted HWMO's Firewise Communities effort and shared a few tips for creating defensible space around the home. 

Chief Seelig of Honolulu Fire Department (middle) and Clay Trauernicht of University of Hawaii CTAHR Cooperative Extension (bottom) address a large group of concerned residents about wildfires in the area.

After a public comment period, the board members deliberated and decided to support Jim's motion:

“The North Shore Neighborhood Board requests City and State examination of current wildfire regulations and community safety of homes and business adjacent to fallow agricultural lands that present fire safety hazards.  NSNB requests that City and State report back to the NSNB their recommendations and conclusions within a 4 to 6 month time frame.” 

As Jim explained: "Many of us wish to 'Keep the Country, Country' in the North Shore of Oahu.  To do this we must understand the complexities of land management and the difficulties of an agricultural community that is under great stress. While we seek fire safety on one hand, we also wish to encourage local small and corporate farming.  We do not wish to place undue burden on the lands such that landowners seek to sell their property for intensified residential and commercial development.

Land that is actively being farmed does not catch fire."

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Puuwaawaa Habitat Conservation Plan Community Meeting

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HWMO teamed with DLNR DOFAW to host an informational booth regarding wildfire history and management in Puuwaawaa.

Puuwaawaa has long been an area of interest for wildfire protection not only for HWMO, but for the state. Over the years, countless wildfires have threatened the native preserves on the mauka and makai stretches of the ahupuaa, prompting numerous efforts to create buffers within and around them. Much time and effort has been spent by DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) and its partnering organizations to restore the native dryland forest throughout Puuwaawaa. 

DOFAW representatives and community members gathered for the input portion of the meeting.

As part of the long-awaited Habitat Conservation Plan that will soon be established, DLNR DOFAW representatives held a community input meeting on March 1st at Auntie Sally's Hale in Hilo (another meeting will be held on March 7th in Kona). HWMO's Pablo Beimler drove to the meeting to hold court during an information session during the first half of the meeting. Pablo shared information regarding fire history in the area and prevention/preparedness tips for residents. DOFAW's Jupiter sat next to Pablo and shared great information on wildfire mitigation efforts that have taken place to protect the native forests of Puuwaawaa. 

To conclude the meeting, comments on the plan were opened up to the public - a great opportunity for community members to share their perspectives and thoughts on how Puuwaawaa should be managed.

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Kailapa Community Association Annual Meeting - Presentation

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Kawaihae Fire on August 2015 threatened Kailapa, located further back (north) in the photo.

The August Kawaihae fire was one of the more recent wildfire scares Kailapa Hawaiian Homestead has endured over the years. With wildfire fresh on the mind of residents in the tight-knit Kawaihae community, HWMO's Pablo Beimler was welcomed as a guest speaker at their Annual Meeting on Saturday, January 23rd. Over 20 residents were present to hear Pablo speak about how HWMO could offer assistance for the community to protect them from wildfire threats. Pablo handed out a number of informational tools including Ready, Set, Go! Action Guides and Firewise Native Plant Bookmarks. 

Along with a preliminary discussion on the possibility of making Kailapa a Firewise Community, Pablo also collected wildfire concerns from the community members. Their top concerns were:

1) Notification of wildfires/communication with response agencies
2) Emergency access (only one ingress/egress)
3) Lack of water for irrigation
4) Archaeological site protection during fire response

We're excited about the endless partnership opportunities there are with Kailapa Community Association and we want to mahalo the community for inviting us to come speak and start an important discussion about wildfire protection.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of protection.””
— Chief Eric Moller, USAG-P, FES