Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 11, 2019

DHHL Completes Necessary Firebreak in Hanapepe

(HANAPEPE, HI) – The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) recently completed an extensive landscaping project in Hanapepe, Kaua‘i that included the installation of a firebreak to protect 47 homes on Hawaiian Home Lands. The firebreak installation, conducted by Kauai Nursery & Landscaping, resulted in the removal of over 30 abandoned vehicles and roughly 80 tons of trash that included refrigerators, washing machines, other various appliances, scrap metal, tires, and household items.

“We are pleased that DHHL has moved forward with installing this important safety measure,” said Kaua‘i Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Kilipaki Vaughan. “The overgrowth in the area presented a tremendous fire threat to all of the nearby homes. Creating this strategic firebreak and maintaining its landscape will effectively prevent fires from occurring or spreading, which will ultimately protect the homes and lives of all ‘ohana in the area.”

Affected homesteaders were notified on June 25 and September 5 by mail and through door-to-door efforts of the landscaping work that would be occurring outside of their respective property lines.

“We’re just grateful to the Department for cleaning it up and cutting back all that growth,” said Michael Chandler, who has been on Hawaiian Home Lands in Hanapepe since 1998. “It was so bad you couldn’t see what was going on back there. Now at least we can see and it looks better.”

The Department will be installing a protective fence and mowing the grass on a regular schedule to maintain the fire break. For increased safety, DHHL will also be improving an existing drainage ditch.

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ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS:

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands carries out Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole’s vision of rehabilitating native Hawaiians by returning them to the land. Established by U.S. Congress in 1921, with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the Hawaiian homesteading program run by DHHL includes management of over 200,000 acres of land statewide with the specific purpose of developing and delivering homesteading.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Cedric Duarte
Information and Community Relations Officer
Department of Hawaiian Home Lands
(808) 620-9591
(808) 342-0873 – mobile
[email protected]