wildfire

Little Fire Ant Infestation; UH Enrollment Numbers; Hawaii Wildfire Battles; Back to School Vaccinations

As Hurricane Lane approached the islands, West Maui residents prepared for wind and rain. Instead, they were awakened by three brush fires that burned more than 2,000 acres. Since then, the community has come together to help the hardest-hit families rebuild.

Hotshots are elite teams of firefighters who battle wildfires in remote and rugged terrain. Former Hilo resident Brian Hughes was the captain of a California-based hotshot team who was recently killed while fighting a fierce wildfire in Ferguson, California a few weeks ago. 

Hotshot Remembrance; Hurricane Names, Election Winners and Losers; Hawaii Honeybees

Rise in Suicide; Albizia Wood; Manoa Heritage Center; Taimane

Wildfire Risk; Female Legislators and #MeToo; Made in Hawaii Movie; Hawaii Pickleball League

Hawaii is the most isolated island chain in the world. Home to a permanent population of 1.4 million and tens of thousands of visitors on any given day, Hawaii and its inhabitants are highly dependent on imports of food and fuel from elsewhere in the world. With help potentially days or weeks away and minimal redundancy, Hawaii's systems and people are highly vulnerable to a major disaster. This series explores those vulnerabilities and how the community can become more resilient.

Little rainfall and an ongoing drought suggests that Hawai‘i is in for a hot, dry summer. It’s also stoking concerns that the islands will experience a busy fire season.

Back in March, Joseph Momoa was heading home to Nānākuli. As soon as he stepped out of his truck, he knew something was wrong: he could smell it.

“When I turned around and faced the mountain, there was a cloud of smoke coming over the top,” said Momoa.”I knew the wind was coming around this area and sweeping over to my side. I was thinking this fire’s going to be here in about five minutes.”