Update: PDC Supports Fire Relief Efforts for New Maui Brushfires

Above: Aerial photo taken by PDC’s field deployment to support fire suppression operations. The dark patches represent areas of vegetation which had burned between September 24 and 25. Click on the image for full view. (Image: PDC)

On the heels of assisting fire relief operations for a wildfire that consumed approximately 4,000 acres earlier this month in West Maui, the PDC was once more tapped to support efforts to battle another significant brushfire situation.

Between Sunday, September 24 and September 25, a series of blazes burned thousands of acres in East Maui on the southern slopes of Haleakala, near the small towns of Ulupalakua and Kanaio. There were no reports of injuries or property damage, and by mid-day September 25 the fires were largely out.

At the onset of the fire suppression operation, the PDC was called on to immediately provide maps to a field-based Incident Command Center. These products were used by officials "on the ground" to help monitor the fires’ spread (see inset).

Left: On September 24, PDC analysts provided several maps to the field-based Incident Command Center near the town of Ulupalakua in East Maui. The products allowed officials in the field to sketch the location of the fires and notify other officials. Click for full view. (Image: PDC)

In addition, the Maui County Civil Defense Agency requested that PDC, once again, fly above the fire scene and take aerial photographs—this time with the locally-based company Windward Aviation. An official from the Department of Land and Natural Resources/Division of Forestry and Wildlife (DLNR/DOFAW) also participated to obtain Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates of the fires’ extents.

PDC’s Imagery Analyst Rich Nezelek’s aerial photographs and DLNR/DOFAW’s GPS data is likely be combined to paint a comprehensive picture of this fire for use by emergency management officials statewide. The product will likely support the County’s continued fire resource and suppression planning activites.

The fire suppression operation for this situation was composed the Maui Fire Department and DLNR/DOFAW, with aerial support from the Hawaii National Guard.

Concludes PDC Chief Operating Officer Ray Shirkhodai, "We are extremely relieved that no casualties or property damage has resulted from this month’s fires. The fire suppression efforts of the dedicated fire fighting teams, civil defense authorities, and the community—including the volunteer organizations—have been extremely effective in both cases, and we are proud to have provided information to help support their outstanding work."

Above: PDC Imagery Analyst Rich Nezelek (in passenger seat on left) returns from the fire mapping mission with Windward Aviation. The chopper rendezvoused near PDC’s Maui Headquarters enroute to and from the fire scene. Click on the image for full view. (Image: PDC)