Controls needed to check wildfires

Fires this year had already burned through 18,500 acres before blazes on Oahu and Hawaii last week added another 7,000 or more to the statewide tally.

Most of the acreage was vacant, sparing residents and homes, but farms, ranches, forests and lands holding threatened and endangered plants and animals were caught in the conflagration. The next time, people may not be as lucky.

State and county authorities, through legislation or agreements, should find a way to decrease the danger of fires on unoccupied property, particularly fallow agriculture and undeveloped lands where weeds and bushes in dry conditions eagerly feed the flames.

Owners of vacant land should be instructed to establish firebreaks between residential areas, as two City Council members have proposed, or to clear away plant and other flammable materials.

Weather and rough terrain hampered firefighters as the Oahu blaze spread across the North Shore and up the Waianae mountains for close to a week, fueled by parched brush. At times, the fire threatened homes, but none were damaged severely. Smoke cut visibility, shutting down roads, and with ash and soot, forced Leeward schools to close.

On the Big Island, crews kept a brush fire from igniting Waimea homes where residents were forced to evacuate last week. A month earlier, more than 9,100 acres in nearby Waikoloa were blackened. Maui has seen fires close its only westside highway and char more than 5,000 acres this year, while on Molokai 3,000 acres recently went up in flames.

Hawaii has not experienced the kind of property damage and fatalities as caused by wildfires on the mainland, but the fire next time could be worse. Events last week should serve as a warning.