Waikōloa Village Wildfire Evacuation Study Community Meeting Recap
If you live in Waikōloa Village, you already know this reality well. We have one permanent road in and out of our community, and we live in one of the highest wildfire risk areas in the state.
For years, residents have raised concerns about evacuation safety and the urgent need for a true second access road. Those concerns became very real during the 2021 wildfire, when many families experienced traffic congestion, confusion, and fear while trying to leave the village.
Earlier this month, Hawaiʻi County and Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense launched a new step in this ongoing conversation: the Waikōloa Village evacuation traffic study. As a community nonprofit focused on wildfire safety, Wildfire Safety Advocates of Waikōloa is helping share information and encourage participation, because this effort directly affects the safety of our residents.
Slide from the Hawaiʻi County and Civil Defense Waikōloa Village evacuation traffic study community meeting.
The evacuation traffic study is being led by Hawaiʻi County and Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense and funded through federal hazard mitigation funds. Its purpose is to better understand how people actually evacuate Waikōloa Village during an emergency, especially during a wildfire.
The study aims to:
Model how long evacuation takes under current conditions
Identify bottlenecks and choke points
Understand how future growth affects evacuation safety
Test different evacuation scenarios and strategies
This study does not build a second road. It does not replace the long-standing community need for permanent evacuation infrastructure. What it does do is formally document evacuation risk using data that agencies and decision makers rely on when setting priorities.
January 9, 2026 Community Meeting Recap:
On January 9, residents gathered with Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense, County representatives, and evacuation planning experts to kick off the study and ask questions. The tone in the room was serious and emotional, which is understandable given the history and risk our community faces.
Many residents shared their experiences from the 2021 wildfire evacuation. People talked about sitting in traffic, not knowing whether they would be able to get out, and worrying about children, elders, pets, and neighbors.
County officials and consultants clarified that the study focuses on evacuation behavior and traffic modeling. It does not include building a permanent second road, which is tied to older land-use decisions and private development timelines.
One message came through clearly: local knowledge matters. The people who live here and have lived through evacuations hold information that cannot be captured by maps or census data alone.
Why the County Survey Is So Important
The evacuation traffic study relies on a community survey being conducted by Hawaiʻi County and Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense. The survey helps planners understand real household situations rather than assumptions.
It asks about:
How many vehicles households would use in an evacuation
How long it takes families to mobilize
Whether people have kids at school, elders at home, or pets to move
How evacuation has worked in real life in Waikōloa Village
If Waikōloa Village is underrepresented in this survey, the results will not reflect reality. Evacuation times can appear shorter. Congestion can look manageable. Urgency can be softened.
Your lived experience is data. This survey is one of the only official places it can be recorded.
👉 Please take the County evacuation survey here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdZM91D2pQjl5mP0malk8y8clYLYJbMjCINTrc0oydmW91vyw/viewform
If you know someone who is not online, please help them take it. Every response helps ensure the study reflects real conditions in our community.
Slide from the Hawaiʻi County and Civil Defense Waikōloa Village evacuation traffic study community meeting.
A Necessary Step, But not the Final Answer
We hear the frustration. Many residents asked why studies are still happening when the need for a second road feels obvious.
The reality is that infrastructure decisions are often driven by documented and quantified risk. Studies like this create a formal record that agencies and elected officials cannot easily dismiss. They help turn lived experience into evidence that supports funding, policy change, and accountability.
This survey is not the end goal. It is one of the steps needed to get there.
The evacuation traffic study will continue over the coming months, with results expected later this year. Those findings will inform emergency planning and provide important data that can be used in future discussions about evacuation safety and infrastructure needs.
Right now, the most important thing residents can do is complete the County survey and encourage others to do the same.
Wildfire Safety Advocates of Waikōloa will continue helping share updates and information as this process moves forward, because ensuring community voices are heard is central to wildfire safety.
