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State of Hawaii: <br /> State Drought Plan and the County Drought Mitigation Strategies9 <br /> State of Hawaii Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan'° <br /> Multiple-Agency Agreements <br /> The federal,state,and local fire agencies of the Big Island have organized into the Big Island <br /> Wildfire Coordinating Group(BIWCG).Members include: <br /> • National Park Service <br /> • U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service <br /> • U.S.Army <br /> • Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources,Division of Forestry and Wildlife <br /> • Hawaii County Civil Defense <br /> • Hawaii Fire Department <br /> • Department of Transportation-Airports Division,Hawaii District <br /> • Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization <br /> • Firewise <br /> BIWCG was established to further inter-agency cooperation,communications and coordination, <br /> and to implement directions and standards for incident management activities. BIWCG <br /> coordinates the programs of the participating wildland fire agencies on the big island of Hawai'i <br /> and provides a forum for leadership,cooperation and the exchange of information". It also <br /> improves procedures to rapidly provide the most effective response to wildfires in the island.In <br /> coordination with Civil Defense,drought and other fire-hazard conditions are constantly <br /> monitored and actions such as burning bans and closures are instituted when needed.The public <br /> is informed of these restrictions by radio announcements and newspaper notices 2 <br /> The agencies represented in BIWCG have participated in the Ka`u CWPP as direct partners <br /> and/or as Board members of the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization. <br /> Evacuation Protocols and Needs <br /> Evacuation protocols for neighborhoods and areas in Ka`u have been determined for natural <br /> hazards such as tsunamis,and can be found in the documents listed above. However,fire safety <br /> zones for all neighborhoods and areas of Ka`u are yet to be determined,and are a priority action <br /> determined by the community as part of this CWPP process. <br /> Next Steps- Needs and Recommendations <br /> Priority next steps recommended by the involved agencies regarding wildfire are: <br /> • Increase fire fighting resources <br /> • Develop a Type III Team for multi-agency wildfire/fire management <br /> • Develop interagency training program <br /> • Implement an interagency Fire Danger Rating System <br /> 11 <br />