Hawai?i Wildfire Management Organization Credits Innovation, Collaboration For Communities’ Success

DHHL staff attend Hawai?i Wildfire Summit at the Outrigger Kona Resort and Spa in Keauhou.

KAILUA-KONA, HAWAI?I ISLAND – When an illegal fireworks incident set a hillside in Papak?lea between Kapahu and Laukea Street ablaze on New Year’s Eve in 2023, the need for change sparked within Noel Shaw.

“Because we had Lahaina, we were even more sensitive to the realities of what a fire like what happened on New Year’s could have resulted in for our community,” said Shaw, a Kal?wahine homesteader and N? Leo O Papak?lea Firewise member. “We saw all the loss in Lahaina, and we saw the need after, and that’s why it was even more urgent.”

Shaw’s search for a solution led her to the Firewise program.

On February 27, 2025, homestead leaders from across the state participated in the Hawai?i Wildfire Summit alongside Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) staff.

Hosted by the Hawai?i Wildfire Management Organization (HWMO), the Hawai?i Wildfire Summit was designed to unite leaders and collaborators statewide. The event’s discussions, panels, and workshops were centered on the latest wildfire research and innovative strategies for wildfire preparedness, mitigation, and management in Hawai?i.

“The goal is to take a forward-looking and united approach to wildfire readiness and resilience,” said Nani Barretto, co-executive director of HWMO. “As HWMO often says, we all have a role to play, and this event was created for us to learn and grow together.”

Two homestead communities were recognized Thursday for their efforts, commitment and contributions to the Firewise program.

N? Leo O Papak?lea Firewise, a group comprising homesteaders from the Papak?lea, Kewalo, and Kal?wahine homesteads on O?ahu, were recipients of the Firestarter Award; this award recognized the group’s accelerated efforts to assemble a Firewise team. Kahikinui’s Firewise team received the Trailblazer Award for its hazardous waste removal project on Maui.

Mike Mundon, a Pu?ukapu lessee and HWMO team member, was the recipient of the Spirit Award.

“We deeply value our partnership with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and commend their proactive efforts to ensure the safety of their communities,” said Barretto.

Homesteaders and DHHL staff were among the panel discussions and presented the measures being implemented at both the community and department level. Some initiatives include green-waste cleanups, community organizing and individual home assessments.

Of the more than 50 homesteads across the pae ??ina, only four are nationally recognized as Firewise:

• Kailapa, Hawai?i Island: Established 2016
• Kahikinui, Maui: Established 2016
• Waiohuli, Maui: Established 2016
• Pu?ukapu, Hawai?i Island: Established 2018

Three homesteads are currently undergoing the Firewise recognition process: Leiali?i and Paukukalo on Maui, and Papak?lea.

“The success of the Firewise program lies in its ability to empower our communities. It gives our homesteads, and its leaders, the tools, strategies and support they need to mitigate wildfire risks in their own backyard. Through collaborative efforts with HWMO, the department aims to ensure every homestead is well-prepared against the threat of wildfires,” DHHL Director Kali Watson said.

Shaw hopes continued community engagement ignites a call for action.

“Being fire prepared and stewarding our ‘?ina collectively is the dream,” said Shaw. “I think it will bring generations back to what they knew and into what they should be knowing for the future”.

Click here to download visuals, soundbites.

B-ROLL (1:33)

SOUNDBITES

Noel Shaw, Kal?wahine homesteader, N? Leo O Papak?lea Firewise 

(:27 seconds)

“We’ve been doing a lot, I think the first iteration of it was really learning for ourselves, about what wildfires are, about what fire mitigation means, about what community organizing around fire looks like, and then the second iteration is kind of like how do we integrate that and bring that into building up an active homestead again around an issue that’s really pressing to our collective safety.”

Noel Shaw, Kal?wahine homesteader, N? Leo O Papak?lea Firewise

(:30 seconds)

“We could’ve had that fire but without Lahaina as well, it wouldn’t have had as much impact, because we had Lahaina, and we were coming off of that, we were even more sensitive to the realities of what a fire like that happened on New Year’s could have resulted in our community, because we saw all the lost in Lahaina and we saw the need after that so that’s why it was even more urgent that we start moving on it because that fire was like – oh my gosh – plus we were just coming off of Lahaina.”

Mike Mundon, Pu?ukapu homesteader, Hawai?i Wildfire Management Organization 

(:16 seconds)

“You don’t want a house to ignite, and then ignite the other house and make a domino effect, so if everybody was to learn to harden their house by having home assessments done, that would be a great deal.”

Mike Mundon, Pu?ukapu homesteader, Hawai?i Wildfire Management Organization

(:29 seconds)

“I’m a lessee, helping another lessee, and I try to make that lessee, one Hawaiian to another, feel comfortable, and we’re not going to judge, and I’m there to help them about how they can get the bird nest, I’m looking for bird nests, I’m looking for litter in the gutters, I’m looking for weeds that’s burnables up against the house, and I’m going to write a report and tell them this is what they got to remove.”