The deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history, a fury that seemed overpowering on the island of Maui. But now experts are trying to amplify the same message they've been hammering home for years: invasive plant species as a potentially lethal threat.
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00:00 Many people are trying to figure out all of the factors that contributed to why those fires on Maui spread so quickly.
00:09 But many fire experts say there is something that we can all control now.
00:13 And that is invasive and native plant species. Think grasses.
00:18 These are very fine fuels and when they dry out, they can carry a fire very quickly.
00:24 The deadliest fire in modern U.S. history. A fury that seemed an overpowering foe on the island of Maui.
00:31 But experts are trying to amplify the same message they've been hammering home for years.
00:36 This is not outside of our control. The climatic or weather conditions, there's not a lot we can do about that.
00:43 But we can take measures long ahead of the fires when they occur that can reduce risk and prevent these.
00:52 The extent of the fires, the intensity of the fires and just limit the impacts we've been seeing.
00:57 Fire scientists like Clay Trauernicht have long pointed to invasive plant species as a potentially lethal threat.
01:03 He wrote this op-ed five years ago, highlighting the dangers of the grass fire cycle.
01:08 When rains cause grass to grow, the rain stops, the grass dries out and then it burns.
01:14 The problem isn't just in Hawaii, but across the U.S.
01:18 Take the Great Basin in the Rocky Mountain West, where fire scientists say the invasion of cheatgrass has increased fire frequency.
01:25 In the case of cheatgrass, fire simulates its seed germination.
01:28 In other words, it grows more after fire, becoming even more invasive.
01:33 Any kind of introduced vegetation is going to present a problem like that,
01:39 particularly if it spreads quickly and grows quickly, then you have that much more fuel for the fire.
01:44 And some of that's very significant.
01:46 Again, this isn't a new conversation.
01:48 This study, co-authored by Trauernicht eight years ago, predicted increases in wildfire because of a growing population,
01:55 rising temperatures and expanding invasive grass cover.
01:59 Authors say grasslands and shrublands composed 24 percent of Hawaii's land cover at the time.
02:04 This chart spells it out.
02:06 Between 2005 and 2011 in Hawaii, 54 percent of the area burned happened in dry grasslands dominated by non-native grasses.
02:15 Part of the catalyst, unmanaged and abandoned agricultural lands.
02:20 Think sugarcane plantations.
02:22 Scientists call it the driver for dominating fire prone non-native grasslands statewide.
02:27 So in the past several decades, as agriculture kind of declined, this is across the state,
02:32 these spaces fill in with tons, literally tons of fuel.
02:37 And these grassy fuels are highly sensitive to quick drying out.
02:42 And when the really easy to ignite in Hawaii, non-native plants like Guinea grass have taken over much of that abandoned agricultural land.
02:51 It can grow as much as six inches a day in a wet season and then it dries out.
02:56 Otter conditions, drier conditions, more variable rainfall.
03:00 It's only going to exacerbate the problem.
03:02 Some fire experts say native plants can be just as harmful.
03:05 Consider palmetto trees in Florida.
03:07 It carries fire, meaning when it starts burning, it lofts with the wind and the fronds go everywhere.
03:13 Palm trees do the same thing.
03:15 And they're a nightmare from a fire perspective.
03:18 But that is their reproductive system, is fire.
03:22 So we don't want to say all natives are good, all invasive are bad.
03:26 But invasive just by its very nature, obviously.
03:29 It's invasive in the sense that it's crowding out other species that need the space, the light, the water.
03:37 While we may not be able to get a handle on extreme weather events, fire scientists say we can start to do something about fuels, both native and invasive now.
03:46 The good news in the sense of the fuel problem is that that's within our control.
03:51 Right. This is these are where there are actions that we can take that would reduce that vulnerability, that would make conditions safer.
03:57 for Maritza Giorgio Scrip