VIDEO: Tuesday was exactly one month until the second anniversary of the tragic Maui wildfires. Gov. Josh Green noted the date as he signed legislation making progress toward recovery and healing. “We’ve done things in a time frame that no other state has done,” he said. House Public Safety Committee chair Della Belatti emphasized a bill that would establish and fund the Office of the State Fire Marshal. “This is a commitment for what I believe is gonna be decades to fulfill and make sure our communities are safe,” she said.
Fire Marshal Dori Booth has actually been on the job since June, but the legislation establishes the office in the Department of Law Enforcement and provides full funding for the office. Booth came to Hawaii from a role as deputy fire marshal in Sedona, Arizona and knows she has work ahead in Hawaii. “You have a lot of wildfires here,” she said. “
The greatest need here is resourcing, because we are literally on islands, and the most geographically remote area in the world. So, even having the federal partners and things that we’re used to on the mainland, they can hop in a plane or be in a car and a couple hours later, we don’t have that here.” She said she got off to a quick start, at the Maili fire, observing the collaboration of county, federal and state agencies. “It was awesome to see everybody working so closely together and without collaboration, I think that fire could easily have gotten out of hand,” she said.
