FSRI and Hawaiian Officials Release Lahaina Fire Forward-Looking Report

Jan. 15, 2025

The report prioritizes a list of action items the state and all counties can use to make improvements to Hawaii’s future preparation for and response to wildfires, including recommendations on how to address each priority.

The report is the last in a three-part series commissioned by the Hawaiߵi Department of the Attorney General.

FSRI and Hawaiߵi state officials have released the Lahaina Fire Forward-Looking Report (Phase Three) that prioritizes a list of action items the state and all counties can use to make improvements to Hawaii’s future preparation for and response to wildfires, including recommendations on how to address each priority. The report also includes guidance for each county fire department to complete a Community Risk Assessment, Community Risk Reduction plan, and a Standards of Cover analysis.

The report is the last in a three-part series commissioned by the Hawaiߵi Department of the Attorney General and follows the Lahaina Fire Comprehensive Timeline Report (Phase One), released in April 2024, which presents a chronology of events that occurred during the deadly Lahaina fire on August 8–9, 2023 captured from an extensive data collection effort, resulting in more than 12,000 timeline entries. This provided the foundation for the Lahaina Fire Incident Analysis Report (Phase Two), released in September 2024, which highlights the systemic issues contributing to the fatal events and details how relative levels of wildfire prevention, preparedness, and operational systems influenced the fire situation, evacuation efforts, and attempts to stop its rapid progression. In this report, FSRI identified 84 findings that resulted in 140 recommendations for addressing these issues including what can be done now.