Fire burning at Pohakuloa
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jim albertini
Feb 7, 2026, 4:03:42 PMFeb 7
to Peace ohana google group
Photo of fire burning at
Pohakuloa.
This
photo taken on 2/4/26 when the fire was already
burning for a day
The
Fire was still burning 2/6/26 8:50 PM according
to Pohakuloa Police Captain Dupont. How come NO
News Coverage?
In the
final EIS on the Pohakuloa lease renewal the
military said if the lease was not renewed, they
would not provide fire or EMT assistance to the
County. It seems that is happening now. In my
view this amounts to EXTORTION for fire
protection and the lease renewal. It is another
indicator that the lease should not be renewed
and that training should end on the rest of PTA
and the stolen land returned to the Kanaka Maoli
after the military does a proper clean up of the
unexploded bombs and toxins.
-- Jim Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola'a (Kurtistown) Hawai'i 96760 Phone 808-966-7622 Email j...@malu-aina.org Visit us on the web at www.malu-aina.org
7:45 PM
Friday, Feb. 6, 2026 I just got a report that
there is a fire at Pohakuloa. I've asked the media
to Please follow up. Mahalo.
Jim
--
Jim
Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent
Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola'a
(Kurtistown) Hawai'i 96760
Hawaii
Island is under extreme drought conditions.
Pohakuloa is a dry windy area, and now it appears
no functioning fire department and emergency
service. In the past days 1000 Marines have been
training at Pohakuloa. Please look into this
dangerous situation. Mahalo. Jim Albertini of Malu
'Aina 2/4/26
I just
tried to phone the following numbers at Pohakuloa
from their website with no response:
Public
Affairs --808-787-7839
HQ --
808-787-7144
Safety --
808-787-7847
Operations
-- 808-787-7804
Logistics
-- 808-969-2504
Natural
Resources --808-787-7676
PTA
Police -- 808-787-7836
Tech
Management -- 808-787-7808
"From the
Federal Fire Fighters of Hawai`i Union, Local 263:
Today
1/28/26 the Army has made the terrible decision to
shutdown the Fire and Emergency Services for
Pohakuloa Training Area due to the lack of proper
staffing . The U.S. Army has refused to hire new
firefighters despite an ongoing staffing shortage.
As a result, today marks the first day that the
station will be completely shut down, with all
personnel placed on administrative leave beginning
at 1500 hours.
At
present, there are approximately 1,000 Marines
actively training in the area.
This
decision leaves a significant portion of Hawaiʻi
Island without fire protection coverage and places
the public, critical infrastructure, and natural
resources at serious risk.
The State
of Hawaiʻi and the County of Hawaiʻi must be made
aware that this situation creates an unacceptable
public safety hazard. The Army currently maintains
a mutual aid agreement with the County to provide
fire response coverage between mile markers 17 and
47 on Daniel K. Inouye Highway, commonly known as
Saddle Road. With the station shut down, this
coverage can no longer be reliably provided.
This
development is especially concerning given that
negotiations are currently underway between the
State and the Army regarding an extended lease.
This
level of operational failure is not indicative of
a partnership that Hawaiʻi can depend on to ensure
public safety.
I have
met with representatives from the Governor’s
Office to request that any future agreements
include strict minimum requirements for
firefighter staffing levels and apparatus
capabilities, including specified water gallonage,
to ensure adequate fire protection. These
standards are essential for an area of this size,
complexity, and risk profile.
For
years, we have advocated for proper staffing
levels commensurate with the scale and hazards of
this jurisdiction. In the past, an acting Fire
Chief was formally reported after authorizing an
illegal backburn during a training-related
wildfire, which resulted in the destruction of
thousands of acres and the loss of endangered
species unique to that area."
PTA is
zoned a conservation district, the highest
protected land status. In the final EIS on the PTA
lease, the military admitted starting 1281
wildfires at PTA in the last 50 years. They add,
that records prior to 2012 are incomplete so the
actual number of fires could be much higher. The
military also added that with increasing extremes
in climate change, the likelihood of wildfires
will only increase.
--
Jim
Albertini Malu 'Aina Center For Non-violent
Education & Action P.O. Box 489 Ola'a
(Kurtistown) Hawai'i 96760
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