Hawai‘i Island
Hawaiʻi Island is unique in that it is the only Hawaiian island with ongoing active volcanic eruptions. However, humans are still by far the leading cause of wildfire ignitions. The majority of wildfires on Hawaiʻi Island are caused by human error or arson, especially near developments, power line right of ways, and along roadsides.
Fire Today
Rainfall follows the typical pattern of the Hawaiian Islands, with more rain along the eastern windward coast. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa create a rain shadow that results in drier conditions on the western leeward coasts. Most of the former sugar plantation lands are on the wetter windward side of the island, along the Hāmākua Coast. Despite this location, there is a long history of fires in the area. It was the large 1901 Hāmākua coast fire that was the impetus for keeping wildfire records in Hawaiʻi. >> READ MORE
On the leeward side, the Kohala area is particularly fire-prone. This drier region with large areas of fallow pasture and agricultural land has a high rate of ignitions vis-a-vis human infrastructure, as well as more regular large fires.
The growing footprint of these grass-dominated fallow agricultural lands combined with increasing human population increases the risk of wildfire across the island. The hazardous vegetation and high number of ignitions is exacerbated by climate change creating more frequent drought conditions.
Seasonal variation in rainfall also affects both ignitions and the extent of areas which burn. Particularly wet periods over a rainy season can, counterintuitively, significantly elevate hazard levels. Increased precipitation may lead to a surplus of vegetation growth, becoming potential fuel during subsequent drier periods, thereby elevating the risk of large wildfires. Given the changing wind and rainfall patterns arising from climate change, this may lead to increased risk.
Plans & Images
Recent Resources For Hawai‘i
A slide presentation overview by Dr. Clay Trauernicht of best practices for assessing and mitigating after-fire impacts to the environment.
On December 13 -15, 2022 the Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization and wildland fire managers from the western U.S. and Hawaiʻi’s county, state, and federal fire agencies met on Hawai‘i Island. Hawai‘i representatives were able to bring mainland partners up to speed on Hawai‘i’s fire ecology, our mitigation challenges, our collaborative programs to educate and mitigate, and our post-fire stabilization needs and recovery goals via a field tour of one of Hawai‘i’s largest fires in recent history.
New climate projections for Hawai‘i are based on historical rainfall, and future climate scenarios, such as the footprint of highest fire risk is expected to increase in extent and move upwards in elevation while fire risk may decrease in the driest low elevation areas. This fact sheet summarizes the latest climate change research as it relates to wildfire.