Hawaii Wildfires: Rural Water Lessons Learned

This article originally appeared on the front cover of the Q1 2024 Edition of the Rural Water Magazine.

In August 2023, while attending training in Duncan, Oklahoma, Hawaii Rural Water Association (HRWA) Executive Director Juanita Reyher-Colon woke up to news no one wanted to hear: wildfires were burning back in her home state.

"It was kind of nerve-wracking, and I really wanted to be home to see how I could help," Reyher-Colon said. "I felt like I was useless on the mainland."

Without being physically there, Reyher-Colon did the only thing she could: she began making phone calls.

"I reached out to the county water department as well as the other private utilities that I knew were within the area to see how HRWA could assist in providing support, whether it was manpower or getting resources to them or just putting them in contact with other folks from Rural Water that had experienced these things," Reyher-Colon said.

The issue many utilities faced wasn't with the water source but rather burnt distribution lines, hydrants, and valves causing water to spill or not get where it needed to go. Reyher-Colon was able to help from afar while making her way back to Hawaii. However, due to a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and safety concerns, she was unable to send HRWA staff to the field to provide assistance.

"Juanita's was one of the first phone calls that I received to see if I needed any help at all and let me know that they would be on standby to help us," said Tony Carrasco, manager of special projects for Hawaii Water Service and NRWA National Director for Hawaii. "And that was nice to know, that Rural Water was there to support us if needed."

Other Rural Water Associations contacted Carrasco to offer assistance during the natural disaster.

"Relationships really played a role in the response since we had that built-up connection before it happened," Carrasco said.

Those relationships, coupled with his more than 37 years of experience in the water industry, made Carrasco's response a little easier. During the wildfire response, his role was the incident commander for Hawaii Water Service. In that capacity, he was responsible for communicating with city, state, and federal agencies, employees, and media outlets. However, this proved to be a difficult task with some cell phones not working and the fire and debris blocking entrances to the island.

"One of the things that affected me the most was ensuring all of our employees and their families were safe," he said. "And until we were able to get ahold of the very last person, I did not rest easy."

With no communication with his employees and being temporarily unable to gain access to the island, Carrasco had to trust his employees and the training they had received for emergency situations.

"I had to trust. It's hard when there's absolutely no communication; there's nothing you can do. You have to make sure your team is properly trained for these events because you're going to have to rely on their experience that things will get done until you can communicate with them. I took comfort knowing that my utility had been prepared for not necessarily this specific disaster but emergencies in general."

Eventually, the utility personnel gained access to satellite phones for communications; however, some didn't work properly.

"We transferred satellite phones from one state to another, and we found out that they did not work," Carrasco said. "So, you need to make sure if you're going to use equipment from one area to another that it will work in that area."

In addition to the limited communication, Carrasco's utility had no electricity for two weeks. In order to maintain operations, they used generators for power. Since the generators were running 24/7, utility staff performed maintenance on each generator to keep them functioning properly. This included changing the oil, air filters, and fuel filters. During those two weeks, customers never lost service.

Another detail Carrasco had to consider was fuel for the generators. As a part of emergency preparedness, the utility had fuel cells ready to use, but those reserves were quickly depleted. Residents of the community offered whatever they had, even if it was just five gallons of diesel. In the end, the utility used five different vendors during this time to replenish their fuel supply.

During the wildfire response, Carrasco transferred operators from Hawaii Island to Maui, allowing the Maui operators to get a break. The facilities are set up differently, so the employees have been cross-trained for this purpose.

"When we talk about preparing for an event like this, any cross-training you do at the different types of water or wastewater plants is key," he said.

For other utilities and State Associations, Carrasco suggested taking steps now to be ready for future emergency response situations and natural disasters.

"Be prepared," he said. "Have emergency response tabletop exercises, plan capital projects accordingly, keep on top of maintenance, train your staff and then cross-train your staff, and reach out to neighboring partners. If you need any help, contact your State Rural Water Association. They're there to support you."

For wildfires specifically, Reyher-Colon suggested purchasing the proper PPE to protect staff. It is difficult to determine if any dangerous chemicals or fumes are in the air when responding to such disasters, which poses safety risks without the right equipment.

Now, months after the fires, utilities and the communities they serve still face challenges from the damage and starting the rebuilding process.

"The number one challenge is the supply chain issue," Reyher-Colon said. "It's really impacting us. And second is being respectful of the people who lost their homes, lives, and family members, and not moving at a pace that is disrespectful to the families. A lot of them have not returned to their homes. Giving them the time to be in that space and grieve their loss is important."

Moving forward, Reyher-Colon said utilities in other states can learn from this disaster response and start preparing now for future incidents.

"I think we can learn from this experience and make our communities better, including our water utility, and strengthen our relationships and partnerships with other agencies," Reyher-Colon said, "not just here but also across the country. And should this happen again, we wouldn't necessarily be facing it alone. If other folks can start the conversation and not wait until an incident happens, and if we understand what other people's resources are, that can help alleviate some of the pressures."

After reflecting on the wildfire and the events that occurred during the response, Carrasco said he is grateful for the support not only from the community but also from Rural Water.

"I personally cannot thank the Rural Water Association community enough for all their support throughout this event, from the national to all the state associations," Carrasco said. "And I'm proud to be associated with an organization like Rural Water that does so many great things for the communities that we serve."