COM 1470.000 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Suppressing wildfires in unoccupied range or open lands or forests is expensive. These costs increase significantly when firefighters must concentrate resources to save property and lives in developed azeas. For instance, the expenses for suppressing the 2005 Waikoloa fire were more than $250,000. These costs aze ultimately born by taxpayers. The County Department of Public Works (DPW) has maintained a list of heavy equipment needed for fighting wildfires and updates this list on a weekly basis so that the equipment can be mobilized when needed. DPW strategically pre-positions the fire fighting equipment to prepare for wildfires according to the time of yeaz or around special occasions such as long weekends. The Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization (WHWMO), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, has been working cooperatively with the Big Island Wildfire Coordinating Group and other agencies to increase community awareness about wildfire mitigation hazards. Several communities have begun to implement wildfire management strategies including Waikoloa, Puako, and Waialea Bay. The HWMO has received wild land urban interface and other grants to build an island wide inventory of wild fire resources, create fire history maps, install dip tanks, conduct hazard assessments and research on mitigation, and to develop community fuelbreaks. Primary government agencies involved in these efforts with HWMO include the County of Hawaii Fire Department and the State Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife. (County of Hawaii Drought Mitigation Strategies, 2004) There are no County regulations that require residential subdivisions to participate in wildfire mitigation programs. County regulations for new subdivisions to reduce wildfire hazards, such as requiring adequate fire truck access, hydrant placement, and water system sizing are in place.. While building codes have been recently revised, the design of subdivisions and new developments can be improved to prevent wildfire disasters and costs to the public, e.g strategic use of green spaces and landscaping, placement of dip tanks, etc. Also, the management of fuels, primarily grasses, on the landscape needs to be addressed to reduce risks to neighboring communities and costs to the taxpayers. Earthquakes Hawaii Island experiences thousands of earthquakes each year; the majority of the earthquakes are so small that they can only be detected by sensitive instruments. The most recent major earthquake on the Big Island occurred on October 15, 2006 when a 6.7 magnitude earthquake and magnitude 6.0 aftershock struck the Big Island. The earthquake caused significant damage to infrastructure in South Kohala. The earthquake damaged Piers 1 and 2a at Kawaihae Harbor, severely limiting the amount of cargo and marine traffic that the harbor can accommodate. The earthquake also caused significant damage to the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The hotel has been closed due to earthquake related damage and does not plan to reopen until November of 2008. Many of the hotel guests patronized the small shops and businesses in the Kawaihae area. The hotel's closure has caused the loss of jobs and has significantly reduced the number of people, who have patronized local businesses in the last yeaz. In Waimea Town, there is a concern that future earthquakes may catastrophically damage the County reservoirs that are located above the town. With the recent Kaloko Dam tragedy on the island of Kauai, which resulted in the loss of lives, and the recent 14