Editorial: Without ag, wildfires

It was a huge relief to hear that a culprit was nabbed for allegedly causing a huge brush fire on Maui, one of two fires finally contained Monday after burning 9,200 acres over some five days.

The first brush fire on July 11 — larger and scarier than the second — caused road closures and the temporary evacuations of thousands of residents and tourists in Maalaea and North Kihei, as well as flights diversions from Kahului Airport due to road and power problems. The second 200-acre fire started the next day near the Safeway and Lowe’s in Kahului.

High winds, hot and dry conditions plus thousands of fallow land provided ideal fire conditions. It’s that last component, of lands left fallow with the closures of once-verdant sugar and pineapple plantations, that leads to the ominous forecast of more menacing brush fires.

Plantations used to use their own staffs, water sources and equipment to monitor, then extinguish, unplanned fires. But the demise of plantations has left large acreages dry, ripe for fires. Last week’s larger Central Maui fire included at least 4,000 acres of former Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. (HC&S) lands. It will be an ongoing battle for Mahi Pono, the new owner of those former HC&S lands, to remain on guard and prepared against flare-ups; the same vigilance applies to landowners of other former plantations.

Warnings during brush fire season — the summer months — have been an annual ritual in Hawaii, but year-round vigilance may be increasingly warranted. Fire experts note that nearly all wildfires are started by people, so do your part in prevention by knowing tips such as clearing vegetation 10 feet around campfires and barbeques, and keeping a shovel and water nearby (see hawaiiwildfire.org). In post-plantation Hawaii, heeding these tips become increasingly important.