I heard the sugar cane fields have almost all been sold and, I forgot who bought them but I think it was companies like maybe Blackrock? Anyway, it was reported that they haven’t been tending the fields and the sugar is dry and left on the field leaving them like tinder.
Pineapple and Sugar cane as industries in Hawaii died a long, long time ago. Invasive weed species took over, and are a big contributor to the tinderbox characteristics of the dry side of the island.
Mismanagement and “Hawaii Time” attitudes did the rest, apparently. It seems inconceivable that people whose job it is to pay attention to such things didn’t raise concerns. Turns out, they did. There were reports issued going back several years.
But “mistakes were made” with implementation of strategies or mitigating fire risk. Too bad, so sad, we’ll try harder next time, or something. “Nobody could have foreseen this”, etc.
The cane fields on maui down on the flat land were tore out years ago,, vegetables are grown there now.
My sister lived on maui till last year, so I know this first hand.