Hawaii lawmakers say the state must change how it oversees vacant lands, staffs its fire departments and deals with property owners who fail to adequately prevent wildfires, months after a deadly blaze on Maui destroyed the town of Lahaina, the Wall Street Journal reported. The recommendations, laid out in a legislative report released Friday, call for an overhaul of the state’s fire-prevention and emergency-response policies. A special committee of more than a dozen state representatives was asked by Hawaii House Speaker Scott Saiki to come up with specific wildfire-prevention proposals shortly after the Aug. 8 fire that killed 100 people. A preliminary draft of the report was made public last month. The final recommendations seek to address many of the most severe shortcomings identified after the Lahaina blaze. They are expected to be turned into legislation and take priority during the coming January session, though specifics still need to be worked out. Among the recommendations is a proposal to raise taxes on lands that aren’t being used for public purposes or don’t have a sufficient conservation plan. Another would create new requirements for landowners to create and maintain “defensible space” around their land and tighten enforcement. Some Hawaiian municipalities already have ordinances related to clearing flammable brush, but they have been difficult to enforce, wildfire experts said.
