‘This is not a Lahaina problem’: Once unthinkable, frequent fires are Hawaii’s new normal.

In December 2022, Clay Trauernicht led several dozen federal wildfire officials down a long road on Hawaii’s Big Island to show them the site of the largest fire in state history. It could happen again, he warned.

A lush green mountain was visible in the distance, but Trauernicht, a University of Hawaii fire scientist, was focused on the dry brown grass at his feet. A fire the year before had burned 42,000 acres, as firefighters struggled to contain it for more than four days. It destroyed some of the state’s...