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Fire and smoke losses in Hawaii: the record
The Hawaii fire record, as the state agency keeps it, is where the claim volume comes from. The 2023 State Hazard Mitigation Plan's wildfire chapter states that each year approximately 0.5% of the State of Hawaii's total land area burns, equal to or greater than the proportion burned of any other state, that over 98% of the total wildfires are human-caused, that in the last 10 years nearly 1,000 wildfires burned an average of 20,000 acres per year statewide, and that over 25% of the state contains non-native, fire-prone grasses and shrubs. [1] The plan's Table 4.15-2 counts wildfires over 100 acres by year: 9 fires and 33,727 acres in 2018, 9 and 16,835 in 2019, 5 and 5,200 in 2020, 2 and 41,400 in 2021, and 2 and 19,000 in 2022 (source NOAA 2023), an average of more than 23,200 acres per year, with the August 2023 Hawaii and Maui County fires listed as an ongoing event whose impacts had yet to be determined. [1]
EPA says the August 8, 2023 Maui wildfires affected approximately 1,550 parcels and 2,200 structures; its Phase 1 hazardous materials removal finished December 21, 2023 after crews removed more than 200 tons of hazardous materials from 1,400-plus properties, including more than 30 tons of lithium batteries from 94 electric and hybrid vehicles and 274 power walls, before a soil stabilizer was applied to keep ash from migrating. [2] Every one of those incidents left standing buildings full of smoke, and it is the standing buildings — not the ones that burned — that generate the disputed claims and the under-scoped cleanups this page is written for.
Who does what in a Hawaii smoke loss
Two different trades answer a smoke loss in Hawaii, and the form on this page reaches both. The people who test are Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIHs) or environmental consultants: they sample the surfaces and the air, send the samples to an accredited laboratory and write the report an insurer accepts. The people who clean are fire damage restoration technicians, sometimes called disaster restoration specialists: soot removal with chemical sponges and HEPA vacuums, odor control with air scrubbers and thermal fogging, and drying out the water the fire department left behind.
Order matters more than most Hawaii homeowners are told: the hygienist samples first, while the residue is undisturbed; the crew cleans second, to the protocol; the hygienist samples again for clearance. Reverse it and the evidence for the claim is in a dumpster.
What the restoration crew actually does in Hawaii
- Soot removal in Hawaii homes — dry chemical sponges on walls and ceilings, HEPA vacuuming of every horizontal surface, wet cleaning where the residue is oily.
- Odor control — air scrubbers running through the work, thermal fogging or ozone/hydroxyl treatment sealed and ventilated, sealing of Hawaii framing that still off-gasses.
- Water — extraction and structural drying of what the fire department left in the Hawaii house, monitored with moisture meters until the framing is dry.
- HVAC — the system carried the smoke through the Hawaii home; ducts, plenums and the air handler are inspected and cleaned to ANSI/IICRC S590.
- Contents — pack-out, inventory, cleaning or documented disposal of what the smoke reached in the Hawaii home.
The standard the crew should be working to is ANSI/IICRC S700 [3], and the technician credential to ask for is the IICRC Fire and Smoke Restoration Technician [4]. Ask a Hawaii crew for both before anyone starts wiping.
Licensing and registration for restoration work in Hawaii
What a Hawaii restoration contractor must hold depends on the trade and the size of the job, and it is worth checking before the first invoice. HRS 444-9 provides that no person shall act, assume to act, or advertise as a general engineering contractor, general building contractor or specialty contractor without a license from the Contractors License Board; a case note records that a general contractor without a C-37 specialty license could not perform the plumbing work on a project. [5] Under HRS 444-25.5 a licensed contractor must, before or when a homeowner signs, explain verbally in detail the lien rights of everyone performing under the contract and the homeowner's option to demand bonding and its approximate expense, and must provide a written contract signed by both parties before any work begins that includes notice of the contractor's right to resolve alleged defects under section 672E-11; a violation is an unfair or deceptive practice under chapter 480. [6]
Verify a Hawaii contractor at Contractors License Board (DCCA Professional and Vocational Licensing Division) [7] before signing anything; a crew that cannot be found there should not be in your house.
The Hawaii claim: what the regulator says
Smoke and fire losses in Hawaii are regulated by the Hawaii Insurance Division (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs) (DCCA INS). The Division's Resources / FAQs page carries a Post-Disaster Claims Guide, 'How to File a Claim', 'What You Need to Know When Filing a Homeowners Claim', 'Tips for Condo Insurance Claims', and 2026-publication Homeowners, Condominium Unit Owners and Renters Insurance Guides with premium comparisons; questions go to 1-844-808-DCCA (3222). [8] HRS 431:13-103(a)(11)(B) defines as an unfair claim settlement practice failing to respond with reasonable promptness, in no case more than fifteen working days, to communications from the insurer's policyholder or any other person including the commissioner; the response must be more than an acknowledgment and must adequately address the concerns stated. [9]
A carrier that says the smell is “just odor” or the residue is “ordinary dust” is making a factual claim, and a factual claim is answered with a laboratory report, not an argument. United Policyholders [10] lays out why a CIH’s independent testing is the lever in a disputed smoke claim; CIH-led fire and smoke assessments [11] describe what such an assessment covers. The Hawaii claim guide on our sister site goes through the paperwork step by step.
The roof after a Hawaii fire
Heat, embers and the fire department’s ventilation cuts damage decking, trusses and insulation in ways a smoke test does not measure. Ventilation holes and fire department damage [12] explains what the crew cut and why it matters to the roof and the attic, where residue persists longest. For the roofer, the National Roofing Directory’s Hawaii roofing contractors listing is the state hub; the picker below opens it.