Here's more on why the fires are bad, from what I wrote in an emergency management discussion group...
🌴🔥 There are actually reasonably frequent fires in Hawaii due especially to lava starts so they deal with wildfire quite a bit.
It's a fire-adapted ecosystem natively with local species that are reasonably flammable. The USDA Forest Service Riverside Fire Lab in SoCal has done quite a bit of science on the Hawaiian fire ecosystem.
There are also now other non-native plants such as grasses that are common in the urban interface areas and carry fire fast. That has reportedly been an issue in this case, and of course urban interface, spotting from wind, and other extreme fire behavior factors that make bad wildfires spread faster.
In this case some of the worst fire is occurring on the drier side of the island(s) that's been in a drought.
There were 3 different factors playing into high winds including a high pressure system to the NW, a nearby hurricane, and a strong ocean wind pattern coming from the NE. Plus a 4th factor: localized diurnal winds relating to the geography, etc. especially the mountains (volcano).
Update on Hawaii fire fatalities...
https://www.kitv.com/news/lahaina/36-confirmed-dead-federal-and-local-officials-give-updates-on-maui-fires/article_5498454e-374e-11ee-aa9e-dbbaab703229.html
Here's more on why the fires are bad, from what I wrote in an emergency management discussion group...
🌴🔥 There are actually reasonably frequent fires in Hawaii due especially to lava starts so they deal with wildfire quite a bit.
It's a fire-adapted ecosystem natively with local species that are reasonably flammable. The USDA Forest Service Riverside Fire Lab in SoCal has done quite a bit of science on the Hawaiian fire ecosystem.
There are also now other non-native plants such as grasses that are common in the urban interface areas and carry fire fast. That has reportedly been an issue in this case, and of course urban interface, spotting from wind, and other extreme fire behavior factors that make bad wildfires spread faster.
In this case some of the worst fire is occurring on the drier side of the island(s) that's been in a drought.
There were 3 different factors playing into high winds including a high pressure system to the NW, a nearby hurricane, and a strong ocean wind pattern coming from the NE. Plus a 4th factor: localized diurnal winds relating to the geography, etc. especially the mountains (volcano).
🌴🔥