Wildfire experts in Hawaii warned for years that overgrown grasses put communities like Lahaina at extreme risk for wildfire destruction, but officials struggled to fund projects and introduce policies used elsewhere in the country.
Patrick T. Fallon / AFP - Getty ImagesMichael Walker, Hawaii’s fire protection forester, urged state lawmakers last year to make a relatively meager financial commitment to boost wildfire preparedness: about $1.5 million.
The fires that last week destroyed Lahaina and killed at least 110 people were driven by some factors outside of local officials’ control, like drought conditions and hurricane-strength winds. But the proliferation of quick-burning grass fuels and the lack of action and funding to address them loom as the biggest missed opportunity — and one that highlights the challenges state and local officials face in taking action to head off natural disasters.
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