It’s finger-crossing time.

As of Monday afternoon, staffers at the Kahoolawe Island Reserve Commission said, the brush fire on that tiny island was basically just that: burning dry brush. The areas painstakingly planted by volunteers had not suffered — yet.

Firefighters can’t set boots on the ground because so much unexploded ordnance from years of Navy bombing practice remains there. Even a flyover with water drops is dangerous. That sense of helplessness must be especially frustrating.

Changes at Kalaeloa, Dillingham

The state Department of Transportation plans to convert Hangar 110 at Kalaeloa Airport to disaster preparedness use. In the works is a 20-year lease, with an annual rent of $1.3 million, through which the federal government would use the hangar for large-scale emergency response.

Meanwhile, DOT, which also operates Dillingham Airfield under a lease with the Army, last month announced its intent to cut short the lease and transfer the airfield back to military control. It’s concerning that if general aviation is dropped or phased out at both sites, only Daniel K. Inouye International Airport would remain as an Oahu go-to for general aviation.