Fire season is approaching, along with the anniversary of the lethal Lahaina fire — and factors the state and counties can’t control, including rainfall and other weather patterns, appear primed to keep wildfire risk high again this year.

The National Interagency Fire Center warns that the lee sides of all Hawaiian islands will experience “above average” and “significant” potential for wildfires, beginning this month through at least August. In fact, the risk of wildfire in Hawaii is now on par with risk in fire-prone Western states like California — and greater than 92% of states in the U.S., according to the U.S. Forest Service.

That means that above average, significant, even extraordinary measures must be taken to reduce risks the state and counties can control.

The Legislature has stepped up state capability with funding to bulk up firefighting capacity and enable use of new techniques. Landowners and private entities must contribute, too, and current practices that may exacerbate the state’s fire risk must be scrutinized and reformed to improve safety.

Reversing a 1978 decision to eliminate a State Fire Marshal’s office, legislators and Gov. Josh Green’s administration have reinstated the position — but approved only minimal funding for it, given the marshal’s responsibility for assessing statewide fire codes and capabilities.

The first year of the new marshal’s tenure is more likely to be devoted to creating a framework for more advanced duties and soliciting added funding to build out the office, and the stingy funding allotted could even hamper the hiring process. The governor, who advocated for the position, must employ his influence and resources to support a new fire marshal and the office’s work.

More immediately promising is legislative appropriation of $1 million for the University of Hawaii to develop a wildfire forecast system utilizing artificial intelligence — the kind of advanced technology the state desperately needs.

Another technological advance is in store thanks to collaboration between the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Fire Administration, bringing 80 wildfire sensors to be deployed across the state. These sensors will recognize spikes in chemical gases and particulates released when fire breaks out, with 24-hour capacity to alert responders.

The Legislature has approved $10 million for equipment including bulldozers, fire engines and water tanks for the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), and $1.4 million to hire 22 new DLNR staffers devoted to fire protection, including a forester, mechanics and heavy-equipment operators — along with $7.4 million to manage invasive grasses and vegetation that fuel fires, restore native plants to provide fire-resistance and work with communities on preventive actions. That’s money well spent, giving DLNR more capacity to manage and perhaps expand its existing 200-mile statewide network of firebreaks.

DLNR also plans to nearly triple the number of “critical” fire weather stations that collect data on risky conditions from 22 to 62, expanding and refining its ability to forecast fire events.

As the state ramps up its monitoring and response, property owners in residential, commercial and agricultural areas must also do their part, to immediately implement all feasible preventive measures and get prepared for a range of possibilities that could include a wind-whipped, fast-spreading and potentially devastating fire such as the “fire hurricane” that destroyed Lahaina. A tax increase meant to discourage neglect of fallow properties where fire risk may be high — such as the dry fields in West Maui where plantations once operated — failed to pass in the Legislature this year, but that must not prevent private operators from applying better stewardship.

For those who haven’t undertaken proactive measures, despite the Lahaina fire’s devastating example, the time to start is now.

As Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization co-executive director Elizabeth Pickett told the Star-Advertiser, much education and outreach will be required to change Hawaii’s so-far reactive approach to fire hazards to a culture of “mitigation, risk reduction and preparedness.”

On Oahu, city officials say they are opening up channels of communication with the Honolulu Fire Department and re-examining suitability of evacuation procedures. Evacuations are fraught because many communities have only one roadway in and out. Alternatives under extreme conditions must be urgently identified, made feasible and communicated to residents.

At a fire safety briefing earlier this month, Honolulu’s Emergency Management Director Hiro Toiya said the city must examine its ability to communicate with the public in case of emergency — and individuals must also be prepared to escape quickly, if necessary. It’s incumbent on every Hawaii household to be prepared, understand escape routes and have emergency supplies at the ready, as ultimately, saving lives is the top priority.