HWMO Blog — Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization

Kaleo the Pueo

HCC Palamanui Grand Opening and Open House

The new campus in Kailua-Kona, HCC Palamanui, put on an exciting event on February 27th to showcase the campus and all it has to offer.

HWMO's Sam Patten (left) and Pablo Beimler (right) hold down the booth for the day.

Keiki Wildland Firefighter Photo Shoot

HWMO's Pablo Beimler and Sam Patten held an informational booth for visitors interested in wildfire prevention and preparedness. We had a number of great conversations with residents and visitors of the island, especially regarding El Niño and the drought and increase in wildfires that will come with it. HCC Palamanui's landscape designer, Calley O'Neill hosted a booth next to ours that showcased the landscape plans for the campus. Only a week or so earlier, HWMO representatives had met with her and other HCC Palamanui officials, to discuss integrating Firewise landscaping into the plan. 

A few keiki visitors also stopped by the booth, including some future wildland firefighters. 

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Waimea Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Science Wildfire Classroom Lessons

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Pablo Beimler explains to Ms. Murphy's 8th graders the basics of the fire triangle: fuel, heat, and oxygen.

HWMO continued its month of student outreach with a series of classroom lessons about wildfire prevention and preparedness with Waimea Middle School students. On November 18th, Pablo Beimler gave presentations to each of Ms. Naui Murphy's 8th grade science classes. He covered a range of wildfire issues, but focused primarily on wind, weather, soil, and mauka-to-makai connections, topics that the students had just learned or were currently learning about. For example, Pablo explained how wildfires could actually create their own weather by drawing in oxygen. At the extreme level, this peculiar behavior of wildfire can create "fire whirls" (mistakenly known as "fire tornados"), a phenomena that occurred on Mauna Kea during a massive wildfire in 2010 (video below).

Following each presentation with Ms. Murphy's classes, students gathered into small groups to work on a poster board activity. The students were to "take over" Pablo's outreach job by creating public service announcements about various topics that were covered in the presentation. Each group focused on a particular issue, such as roadside ignitions or the El Niño drought, and brainstormed ways in which they could get the messages across to the public (including through social media using hashtags, etc.)

On November 19th, Pablo returned to the WMS to give presentations to Ms. Jade Bowman's 7th grade science classes. He turned the focus more on plants and how they could help protect a home from a wildfire. Many native dryland plants, such as pohinahina and ilima, have characteristics that are considered Firewise: drought-tolerance, stay green all year, drop very little debris, and so on. Students translated their new-found understanding for these characteristics by participating in our popular Native Plant Firewise Game Show. Each class helped us determine which live plants that we brought to the classroom would be good, not-so-good, and bad for a Firewise garden. 

Ms. Bowman's 7th grade science class watches in awe the story of the Waikoloa fire in 2005.

During the first class, a fire evacuation drill occurred, which turned out to be a great teaching moment for HWMO. Pablo stressed the importance of taking these drills seriously. A number of schools across the state have had to evacuate due to encroaching wildfires. By practicing these drills regularly, should an actual emergency occur, students and staff would be ready to "Go!" seamlessly without a moment's hesitation. Pablo also told students to share their new Ready, Set, Go! Action Guides with their families to go through their own evacuation plans and to practice them as often as possible. 

Mahalo to Ms. Bowman and Ms. Murphy for opening their classrooms to HWMO and being such great hosts!

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Seabury Hall Presentation

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Pablo Beimler gives background on Firewise native plants to Seabury Hall students.

A busy week of school outreach kicked off in Maui on Monday, November 16th. HWMO's Pablo Beimler gave a presentation to the 6-12th grade students of Seabury Hall, a coed college-preparatory school in Makawao.

Pablo kept students engaged by firing questions left and right about Hawaii's wildfire issues and prevention and preparedness messages. Students were especially excited about Kaleo the Pueo, stopping to pick up stickers and bookmarks along with "10 Ways to Prepare for Wildfire" brochures at the end. 

Mahalo to Ms. Jacque Peterka and the Seabury Hall staff and students who opened their doors to HWMO with a warm welcome.

Fairmont Orchid Health & Safety Fair

Pablo Beimler shares details about the Ready, Set, Go! program with Fairmont Orchid employees.

This past August, Fairmont Orchid, along with numerous other businesses and communities, was threatened by a 4,000-plus-acre wildfire in Kawaihae. The close call was a stark reminder of the power of wildfires and the importance of preparing and planning for them. 

On November 12th, HWMO's Pablo Beimler traveled to the South Kohala coastline to set up an outreach booth at this year's Fairmont Orchid Health and Safety Fair. Over a hundred employees of the hotel partook in the event's festivities including a delicious complimentary meal served by the excellent chefs of the Orchid. Each employee also could had the chance to win a free overnight package deal and other prizes, the one requirement being a visit to at least fifteen of the information booths at the event. The HWMO booth stayed busy throughout the event. We shared Ready, Set, Go! Action Guides and new Firewise native plant bookmarks, among other giveaways. Two lucky drawing winners walked away with a Kaleo the Pueo hat or T-shirt. 

We thank all of the employees who stopped by and will hopefully share what they've learned with their family and community. Big mahalo to Fairmont Orchid for inviting us!

Kohala Mountain Pumpkin Patch Festival

October is not only Fire Prevention Month but also pumpkin season. Why not combine the two?

Staying busy at the HWMO tent.

HWMO traveled up Kohala Mountain, which looms over our office in Waimea, to set-up an outreach booth at the Kohala Mountain Pumpkin Patch Festival. The fair was organized and hosted by our friends from Kohala Mountain Educational Farm on their beautiful property as part of a month-long festival open to the public every Saturday and Sunday. Hayrides, pony rides, petting zoos, and a huge corn maze were just some of the many attractions. Visitors were also able to pick fresh pumpkins from the lush pumpkin patch.

Rocking the wildland fire gear.

HWMO's booth created an exciting opportunity for keiki to don real wildland firefighter gear and to take home Polaroid photos of them in the gear. Some even admitted that they wanted to become firefighters themselves! We also gave away a number of Kaleo the Pueo and Smokey the Bear merchandise, which was a big hit for the youngsters. 


K-Mart Kona Safety Event

Future firefighter all bundled up.

September and October are prime times of the year for safety awareness and preparedness. Fire Prevention Week is October 4-10 this year and September was National Preparedness Month. This past weekend, K-Mart sponsored a National Safety Event by hosting various groups to set-up in-front of the store to prepare customers for emergencies.

On Saturday, October 3rd, HWMO reached out to a number of customers who were pleasantly surprised to find activities and giveaways for keiki and wildfire prep information for the whole family. A few excited future-firefighters dressed up in wildland fire gear and posed for Polaroid photos they could take home and keep as a memory. 

No question he's ready for firefighting action.

Wildland Firefighter photo also comes in Polaroid (which the keiki get to keep!)

Our neighbors from the Department of Public Health were a group of friendly nurses who shared information with families about child seat and seat belt safety. Hawaii Police Department and Hawaii Fire Department joined nurses in the parking lot to conduct free child seat inspections for customers, as well.

Preparedness season doesn't stop there. HWMO will be setting up at this year's Kohala Mountain Pumpkin Patch on October 10th from 10a to 5p.

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Wiliwili Festival 2015

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Our booth was featured in West Hawaii Today's photo gallery of the Wiliwili Festival 2015. "Pablo Beimler of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, right, offers a pohinahina start to Mia Wright and her daughter Kara at the Wiliwili Festival sponsored by the Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative Saturday at Waikoloa Stables. Laura Shimabuku/West Hawaii Today"

Every year, a spectacular bloom occurs that brightens Waikoloa Village. The Wiliwili tree showcases its beautiful orange blossoms every September, a bloom that is becoming more and more vibrant thanks to the efforts of the Waikoloa Dry Forest Initiative (WDFI). For years, the wiliwili populations have been hit hard by a number of factors including development, drought, and wildfires bringing them to the fringe of extinction. Our friends from WDFI are doing amazing work restoring the dryland forest where wiliwili trees once thrive. 

Family stops by to learn components of the fire triangle.

To celebrate an early arrival to the blossoms this year, WDFI threw their annual Wiliwili Festival at the Waikoloa Stables on September 12th. A number of field tours gave visitors the opportunity to see the invaluable restoration project that HWMO has helped protect by providing fuelbreak funding and expertise. HWMO maintained tradition by having a wildfire outreach booth complete with giveaways for keiki, including new Kaleo the Pueo coloring sheets, a Keiki Wildland Firefighter Photo Shoot, and native plant lessons. The young visitors of the festival participated in a scavenger hunt that included a lesson about the fire triangle. HWMO's Pablo Beimler handed 3 pieces of a deceptively tricky puzzle to keiki who stopped by. They solved the puzzles at their own rates, but each one walked away knowing that the fire triangle consisted of 3 parts: oxygen, ignition (heat), and fuel!

All smiles at the HWMO Keiki Wildland Firefighter Shoot!

Fire triangle puzzle solving in action.

At around 12:30 p.m., Pablo gave a Ready, Set, Go! workshop to about a dozen interested community members about the benefits of planting native and adapted plants around the home. Benefits included: 

  • Decreased maintenance needs
  • Lower water bill
  • Beautification of property
  • Perpetuation of important cultural resources
  • and Protection of the home from wildfire

Mahalo nui to our friends from WDFI for putting on such an informative, interactive event that featured the great work going on all around the island! 

Ewa Beach Emergency Prep Fair

Sam Patten getting visitors to sign up for our newsletter.

After visiting a number of schools in Kauai, HWMO hopped on over to Oahu on September 5th for the 5th annual Ewa Beach Emergency Preparedness Fair at the Ewa Makai Middle School. Over a thousand people stopped by this year's fair, generating a buzz that did not go unnoticed. Dozens of booths showcasing preparedness tips for various types of emergencies gave proactive families and individuals the chance to prepare early for the next scenario - whether it be hurricanes, flash floods, heart attacks, tsunamis, and...you guessed it, wildfires!

Our partners from Honolulu FD give fire extinguisher trainings to all ages.

HWMO had a travel-sized version of our usual outreach booth and had hundreds of visitors with the help of Honolulu Fire Department's exciting outreach next door. While HFD held fire extinguisher trainings and smoke alarm education, HWMO's Board of Director Sam Patten and Outreach Coordinator Pablo Beimler spoke to children, parents, teachers, community leaders and anyone else who was interested in learning more about wildfire prevention and preparedness.

A highly successful event with a very diverse crowd, the Ewa Beach Fair proved to be a worthwhile and enjoyable experience that will open the door for new outreach opportunities in the area.  

Banner Photo: Scores of proactive visitors stopped by the HWMO booth, keeping us busy.

Kauai School Outreach Tour

Kauai's wildfire uptick in recent months, partially due to drought conditions and a string of arson cases, is cause for concern for the Garden Island. We reached out to various schools across the island to offer our complimentary wildfire student outreach program. 

Pablo asks students to chime in on how the wildfire hazards on the screen could be eliminated.

The first week of September became an outreach tour of Kauai's schools for HWMO Education & Outreach Coordinator, Pablo Beimler. On September 1st and 2nd, Pablo traveled to Waimea Canyon Middle School and held wildfire lessons in the science classroom of Ms. Yamagata for a total of seven classes. On the following day, September 3rd, Pablo held lessons in the life sciences classroom of Mr. Sasso at Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School in Lihue, another great fit for introducing students to a life science they're not normally exposed to: fire ecology. September 4th was a double-header for HWMO: Pablo first held a presentation for over a hundred K-5th graders at Island School in Lihue and then hopped on over to Chiefess for one last classroom lesson, this time with Ms. Thompson's Hawaiiana class. 

Students become gnarled Wiliwili trees in a series of "ladder fuel" stretches.

For each classroom lesson, Pablo gave an interactive presentation about the basics of fire ecology, Hawaii's unique wildfire issues, how students can help reduce ignitions and protect their homes from wildfire using Firewise landscaping. To keep the students on their toes, Pablo had the students stand up and demonstrate "ladder fuels". Students first touched their toes to be a grass fire, their knees to be a brush fire, and eventually a wild crown fire with their arms waving frantically. For the next round, Pablo told the students that the brush had been removed and the lower branches of the trees eliminated (removal of "ladder fuels"). Students no longer could get from the grass pose to the crown pose. The ladder fuel treatment was a success.

To wrap up each lesson, Pablo had several volunteers participate in the Firewise Plant Game Show. One student would select and carry around a special plant to each student and allow them to "smell, touch, and even cuddle" the plant to get to know it better. Then, three landscaping judges would examine the plants and decide whether the plant should go in a Firewise garden or not. Before they could decide, they had to see what the audience thought by gauging the thumbs in the crowd. After coming up with a consensus decision, the students would show cards with "emoji" faces to determine the fate of the plant.

It was a treat to be able to talk to so many students during a short period of time and we are looking forward to additional opportunities throughout the State. Contact us if you'd like for us to come visit your school!

Mahalo nui loa to all of the teachers, administrators, and students who helped make this outreach tour a success!

Banner photo: Students stand tall like koa trees, which make for good Firewise plants.

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Waikoloa Back-to-School Bash 2015

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Dressing up in wildland fire gear and posing in front of Kaleo the Pueo (and cotton candy enthusiasts!)

This summer went by fast! It was only yesterday when we were participating in end-of-the-school-year events. On Saturday, July 25, we traveled down to Waikoloa School for this year's Back-To-School Bash. Hundreds of keiki and their ʻohana joined the festivities, gathering free books from Friends of the Library, climbing a 30-foot rock wall, indulging in cotton candy, and more. The fun didn't stop there, many visitors stopped by our booth to learn about Firewise native plants and to dress up like wildland firefighters. Each kid that dressed-up in the gear took home a Polaroid photo of them, complements of HWMO (along with Kaleo the Pueo stickers and Smokey the Bear giveaways). We even got to catch-up with our Ocean Warriors students who helped us put on the Kaleo the Pueo play back in April.

Looks like the Polaroid camera is on us now!

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

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