This year’s rainy season may have created green landscapes across the islands, but the grass and vegetation now pose a risk for wildfires as Hawaiʻi heads into its drier months.
Federal, state, city and community partners launched the 2026 Wildfire LOOKOUT! campaign on June 30 to emphasize awareness, preparedness, and prevention. This is the eleventh year of the annual campaign.
Pao-Chi Hwang, the Honolulu Fire Department battalion chief, said most fires are caused by human actions, meaning they are preventable if people do their part.
“We see families displaced, we see neighborhoods impacted, we see firefighters and first responders place themselves in harm's way to protect others, and far too often those incidents began with something that was preventable,” Hwang said at the launch of the campaign at Honolulu Hale. “The good news is that prevention is something that every one of us can participate in. Wildfire prevention does not begin when the firefighters arrive; it begins with the choices we make every day.”
Officials are asking residents to stay up to date on changing weather and red flag alerts, prepare exit plans and go-bags, reduce wildfire risk around homes by removing dry debris and vegetation, and to prevent accidental ignitions from vehicles, fires and fireworks.
This year is also expected to have a particularly aggressive El Niño season, with up to 13 storms expected to hit or impact Hawaiʻi. John Bravender, the warning coordination meteorologist with NOAA's National Weather Service, said that despite a wetter than average season, conditions can still change quickly, posing a risk for fires.
“Something to keep in mind with respect to wildfires is how much influence distant hurricanes can have on the wind and the dry conditions, and we've seen that many times in the past,” Bravender said to HPR while at the launch event on June 30. “A hurricane passing south of the islands (can) enhance the winds, makes it drier, and leads to a bigger wildfire threat.”
Residents are being asked to sign up for national and island-specific emergency alert systems for Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, Maui, and Honolulu counties.
