Parker Ranch on the Big Island of Hawaii released the following statement regarding the brush fire that has burned over 50,000 acres on the Big Island:
This is our second update since posting our initial statement on the fire on August 2, 2021.
Today is the sixth day of this fire and it appears to be mostly contained. We are revising our estimates of the burn areas. Parker Ranch acreage burned is estimated to be about 36,600 acres, 4,600 acres more than our earlier estimate. Total acreage burned is estimated to be about 47,100 acres or about 2,900 acres less than our original estimate of 50,000 acres. If these estimates are accurate, then 78% of the total fire area was on Parker Ranch lands. Our data set is derived from the NASA Fire Information Resource Management System. The probability of 2% reported yesterday in Update #1 is the likelihood of this size of fire in any given year, based on the last fire as large as 47,000 acres occurring 50+ years ago.
Everyone has been working hard for the last several days, focusing on the dual fronts of direct firefighting operations and protecting lives and property. Parker Ranch has ranched these lands for nearly 175 years. These lands are the heart of Parker Ranch. Our Mauna Kea lands start at about 700 feet elevation and rise to about 7,700 feet. This 7,000 feet of elevation covers nearly 70,000 acres of the western and northwestern flanks of Mauna Kea.
Seeing these lands afire is like seeing your home and all of your friends’ homes burning.
However, we have been so busy fighting this beast, we have not been able to check ourselves. Today is the first day the emotions have started to emerge and we are weeping with sorrow.
Every morning we rise before the sun rises. Every morning we see the mauna and all her glory. We are grateful every day for her gifts. These lands are essential to us. These lands are also important agricultural lands. These lands give us life and the ability to provide for our families.
The sense of loss is overwhelming. But we are resilient.
We are very grateful for the support from the community. The outpouring of aloha has been incredible. Living and raising a family in a town such as Waimea is a true blessing. We choose this way of life. And we also love this way of life. We cherish these relationships and pray for healing and recovery.
Here is a summary of the state of things:
- We estimate that slightly more than 50% of our Mauna Kea lands are burned.
- These burned lands represent about 25% of total lands under our control and ownership.
- No injuries have been reported among our employees.
- We are continuing cattle relocation efforts.
- The estimated cost and losses from this fire to us is about $2 million at this early stage.
- As previously stated, we will conduct an inventory and report the number of animal losses.
We are finalizing our press release on reforestation and expect to release it tomorrow, August 5th. The threat of climate change is real. We believe our forest management strategy will help to address these issues. We are keen to explore collaboration and partnerships in reforestation and welcome expressions of interest. Our resiliency strategy will also address the threat of climate change.Parker RanchAugust 4, 2021 (2:00pm)