View the Lahaina fire as horrific urban renewal. Don’t rebuild exactly as it was. Think about whether the main street might be better in another place or another orientation. Should the rebuilt commercial buildings have apartments on the upper floors to address the need for housing?

Need additional water? Use wastewater from municipal wastewater treatment facilities to water nonfood vegetation.

Need to replace nonindigenous plants with less flammable native vegetation but don’t have the money to do so? Volunteers will be happy to prevent the next disaster by helping out.

Were the sirens powered by solar panels? Are there signals for different dangers — tsunamis, fire, floods and landslides?

There would be fewer traffic jams if people filled their cars with other people, instead of one or two people per car.

Andi Weiss Bartczak

New Paltz, N.Y.

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