News

Learnings from the Kalāwahine, Kewalo & Papakōlea Firewise walkthrough

Written by Tyler Sonnemaker

Published December 2, 2024

Hoʻolauna

Aloha mai kākou, ʻo Tyler Sonnemaker koʻu inoa. No Oregon mai au, noho au i ka ʻili o Keahupuaʻanui, ma ka ahupuaʻa o Kailua. He mea haʻi moʻolelo au a he haumana o ʻuhau humu pōhaku au. Ua kono mai koʻu mau hoa, ʻo Noel Shaw lāua oʻ Anuheaokalani Kanealiʻi, iaʻu i hele wāwae i ko ʻoukou kaiāulu a me Nā Leo o Papakōlea a Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization i mamua kēia mahina.

Aloha everyone, my name is Tyler Sonnemaker, I was raised in Oregon, and now live in Kailua on the ʻili of Keahupuaʻanui. I’m a storyteller and journalist, student of uhau humu pōhaku (Hawaiian rock weaving), and friend of Noel Shaw and Anu Kaneali’i.

Earlier this month, they invited me to join their hui, Nā Leo o Papakōlea, other homestead residents, and a local nonprofit called Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management Organization (HWMO) on a walkthrough of Papakōlea, Kewalo & Kalāwahine homesteads as they completed a “community wildfire risk assessment,” one step in their joint effort to get these communities “Firewise USA” certified.

Noel and Anu asked me to write about the experience from my perspective, including who all was involved, why they did this walkthrough, what they did and learned, what next steps are planned, and how to engage with this hana, if you can/want to.

My intentions in sharing this report are to:

• kākoʻo your community’s efforts to keep each other safe in the face of increasing fire risks

• bring transparency to Nā Leo o Papakōlea’s work & process

• share information and resources that build your community’s capacity to create the changes you want to see — and hold those in power within and outside of your community accountable for fulfilling their kuleana to you

If you have any questions about this community effort, please visit Nā Leo o Papakōlea’s website, email them at naleoopapakoleafirewise@gmail.com, and also attend their event:

Nā Leo o Papakōlea Firewise: Fire Safety Day for a Fire Free New Years and 2025 Saturday December 21, 9am-12pm Lincoln Elementary

If you have any questions for me about this report, please feel free to reach out by email at kaheawai@proton.me, or come talk to me in person at the fire safety day, where I’ll be offering opportunities for community members to record their stories (more details will be shared in person).

The backstory

A year ago on New Year’s Eve, just months after the Maui fires, an illegal aerial firework ignited a fire on the hillside between Kapahu St. and Laukea St. First responders initially faced difficulties reaching and fighting the fire, and many residents were concerned that they could become trapped mauka of the fire and unable to evacuate their kūpuna, ʻohana and themselves safely.

The NYE fire, and fears of how much worse it could have been, motivated Nā Leo o Papakōlea — Noel (Kalāwahine), Anu (Kewalo) and Uncle Curtis Aiwohi (Kalāwahine), Uncle Ricky Chan (Papakōlea), Laʻamea Paleka (Papakōlea) and other residents to take actions to help the community minimize the risk of fires and be prepared to respond more effectively if/when the next one happens.

As Noel described it to me: “we keep us safe.”

This eventually led Nā Leo o Papakōlea to discover Firewise USA, a national program run by the National Fire Protection Association that “provides simple, effective steps to help communities reduce the risk of destruction from wildfire.” Locally, HWMO helps communities get certified as Firewise USA sites, which involves the following steps:

DONE ✓ | community members contact HWMO requesting to get certified

DONE ✓ | HWMO + community members conduct a community wildfire risk assessment that “identifies areas of successful wildfire risk reduction and areas where improvements could be made” (this is the walkthrough I joined and wrote about below)

IN PROGRESS → | HWMO creates a risk assessment report based on their walkthrough that includes recommended actions and areas to prioritize

NEXT STEPS □ | community members create a three-year action plan based on that report, upload it to the Firewise USA website, and update it yearly

NEXT STEPS □ | community members complete actions throughout the year and log their hours

NEXT STEPS □ | community members renew their certification annually

So, why get certified?

As someone who’s not a member of Firewise, HWMO, Nā Leo o Papakōlea or your community — and has no stake in whether you get certified or not — here are some reasons I can see this certification being valuable:

• it signals to residents that there are leaders in your community who care enough about your safety that they’ve sacrificed many hours of their own time to get this certification

• it signals to residents who in your community has knowledge about preventing and responding to fires, so you know who to ask for help protecting your own loved ones and home

• the action plan is a resource that can help your community be more clear, aligned, organized and effective in taking steps to protect each other

• that action plan could also help you be more effective in advocating for kōkua from DHHL, Honolulu Fire Department, and other local/state/federal agencies who have certain responsibilities (and resources) to help keep your community safe

• it tells local lawmakers, philanthropy organizations and others with resources what your community needs and how they can support you

• and maybe most importantly, doing this work together will hopefully strengthen pilina across your community and build a more abundant and resilient community for your keiki and future generations