Major project proposed to protect Kīhei with green belts and firebreaks

1/16/2024 #kihei #fire #greenbelt #firebreak

The Leeward Haleakala Resilient Landscapes grant proposal was submitted to the USDA Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program. These proposals haven’t been approved yet. The submitters are hoping to hear back from the funding entity in the Spring. This is the presentation provided at the KCA public meeting in November 2023.

This grant money will serve the public by creating

1. Resilient Landscapes
2. Fire Adapted Communities
3. Safe and Effective Wildfire Response

through the reduction of fuel loads and the continued maintenance of fire breaks at wildland urban interfaces. The Project will implement up to 92-acres (100,350 linear feet or 19-miles) of priority hazardous fuels reduction treatments along the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) identified as at-risk in both the Upcountry Maui and South Maui Community Wildfire Protection Plans and that have been recently impacted by multiple severe disasters including large fires in 2018 and more recently in August of 2023. A firebreak around Maui Meadows is included in this task.

Nine 50,000-gallon cisterns will also be installed at strategic locations throughout Leeward Haleakala in close proximity to the surrounding communities (Kula, Keokea, Kihei, Wailea, and Makena). Establishment of these cisterns/dip tanks will serve to increase firefighting preparedness while simultaneously reducing the time it takes for helicopter firefighters to suppress wildfires. These tanks will also serve as a cached water supply in support of ground-based firefighting efforts.