Last summer, a fire came close to destroying homes in Kaumakani, a plantation-style neighborhood in West Kauaʻi.
“That's where we kind of turned to the fire folks and said, ‘Is there anything we should be doing to address wildfire mitigation in the built environment?’” said Kauaʻi Planning Department Director Kaʻāina Hull.
Hull has been working with fire organizations like the Kauaʻi Fire Department and Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization. They’ve organized a bill introduced at the Kauaʻi County Council to manage vegetation and update requirements on home construction in plantation camps like Kaumakani to make them more fire resilient.
Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization Executive Director Elizabeth Pickett explained that the biggest issue for spreading wildfires is the embers.
“This is not just a couple embers. This is like a blizzard of embers and those embers find cracks in every roof, the open vents, they go under homes, they ignite leaf piles in rain gutters or wherever they're, they are around the home and yard,” she said. “That ember ignition issue is really what has been burning down towns across the country and the world.”
That’s why the bill would require new construction in these plantation camps to follow updated building standards.
For example, a 5-foot concrete zone would be required around the homes. Fire mesh screening would be installed to block embers from flying under houses and into vents.
Requirements to manage vegetation and debris are also part of the bill. Fire-prone vegetation taller than 18 inches would be banned within 30 to 100 feet of a home.
Pickett explained that changing building standards to incorporate fire safety is one of the best ways to prevent mass destruction in the future.
“The most important tool we have to get widespread safety in place is to build safe from the start and then all those mitigation, maintenance and other kinds of activities have a fighting chance to really seal the deal,” she said. “But it's never as widespread or effective unless you use codes to get the safety in place, and then you keep doing the rest of the mitigation measures from there.”
How do plantation-style areas feel about the bill?
The bill also implements vegetation and debris standards for the existing homes. The landowner – in the case of Kaumakani Camp, that’s Gay & Robinson – would be required to submit vegetation management plans to the county fire chief.
Gay & Robinson Vice President Howard Green explained that they support the need for fire mitigation, although some of the changes can be daunting.
“We welcome the regulatory tool to push us along, and we’ll work with Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization and the Kauaʻi Fire Department to help us with community meetings and get some recommendations going on cleanup and actually do some cleanup that, quite frankly, is long overdue. So that's all good and we'll do our best to comply with all that,” he said.
When it comes to the requirements for new constructions, Green said he hopes that there can be some flexibility, possibly with alternative materials or building techniques.
“It only makes sense to make them as fire-resilient as much as possible. It's in our best interest,” he said.
“From the form-based code that we are offered in some of these new construction areas, it drives us to do more of a multiplex design rather than a single-family, plantation-style cottage. So it does sway us a bit from even the character of the plantation camps somewhat because of the density requirements.”
Green added that Gay & Robinson wants to continue to keep rents low for tenants as it currently prioritizes agricultural workers, employees and local residents – it has a waiting list of 1,000 people.
Kauaʻi was already in the process of allowing more homes to be built on the plantation camp land, although it is zoned for agricultural use. That’s why Hull decided it was a good place to start implementing fire mitigation measures.
“We felt it appropriate that any up zone in this area needs to have wildfire mitigation measures embedded within the regulations,” he said. “I believe others are definitely wildfire-prone, and mitigation measures could be appropriate. But to do that, we need to engage with those communities.”
The bill moving through the Kauaʻi County Council has given Pickett hope after the 2023 Maui wildfires.
“Hawaiʻi is starting to look at fire prevention, and it's what we've long-needed,” Pickett said. “The fact that Hawaiʻi sees what could happen and is willing to take the necessary steps to up our game and to really match the level of risk that we face now and will increasingly face in the future – I feel very hopeful and proud of us for learning our lessons so that we don't have to repeat our past mistakes.”
The bill passed out of committee on Wednesday and is expected to be heard by the full Kauaʻi County Council next week.
