This page explains everything on the hazard map in plain words: what each color and
symbol means, where the information comes from, and — just as important — what Kahu Ola
does not do. You do not need any technical background. Every term is explained the first
time it is used.
In an emergency, call 911 first. Kahu Ola helps you understand what is
happening around you. It is not an emergency service and it does not replace official
warnings.
PART 1 · 5-MINUTE STARTPART 2 · WHERE DATA COMES FROMPART 3 · EVERY FEATURE
At the bottom of the screen, tap the small handle to open Map Details.
Tap Layers & Tools to show the buttons.
Tap Use My Location and allow location when your phone asks.
Read the location line on the Fire Spread Concern card.
On a computer the panel is already open on the right side of the screen, so you can skip
steps 2 and 3.
What a calm day looks like
Most days, the answer is reassuring — and it is worth learning what that looks like now,
while nothing is happening, so you recognise it later. On a calm day the card shows a low
concern level and the map has few or no orange dots. That is the normal state. An empty
map is not a broken map; it is good news.
Screenshot 4iPhone — Fire Spread Concern card on a calm day, showing the good-news line
A calm day. Learn this view first so the difference is obvious when it matters.
2. “I see smoke or fire — what do I do?”
Call 911 first. Do this before anything else, and before opening any app.
Satellites can take a while to notice a new fire, and they cannot see everything. A person
who can see smoke knows more, right now, than any satellite does. Reporting it to 911 is
the fastest way to get help moving.
After you have called, the map can help you understand the wider picture — whether other
heat has been detected nearby, which way the wind is blowing, and whether the National
Weather Service has issued any official warning for your area.
Kahu Ola does not currently accept fire reports from the public. If you see a way to
report something in another app, that is not us.
3. “What do the colors and symbols mean?”
This is the decoder. Five things account for almost everything you will see on the map.
Orange dots and bubbles
Places where a satellite detected unusual heat. A bubble with a number means several
detections are grouped together at that zoom level — tap it to zoom in and separate them.
A dot means heat was seen there; it does not confirm a fire on its own.
Bubble colour by number of detections:
Under 8
8 to 19
20 or more
Pink and magenta shading
A spread estimate, not a burning area. It shows where fire could
travel based on nearby heat detections, wind direction and humidity. Paler pink means
lower concern, deep red means the highest. The map legend says it plainly:
“Estimate. Shaded areas are not burning.”
Concern levels, palest to deepest:
Low
Moderate
High
Extreme
Orange rings with a letter
Seen when you zoom out to the whole United States. Each ring marks a fire area that
has been assessed, and the letter is the concern level: L low,
M moderate, H high, E extreme.
Tap a ring to fly to that area.
L · Low
M · Moderate
H · High
E · Extreme
Colored numbers
Air quality readings from official monitoring stations. The number is the Air Quality
Index and the color is its category — green is Good, yellow is Moderate, orange is
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, and it continues through red, purple and maroon as
air gets worse.
Air quality, best to worst:
Good
Moderate
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
Unhealthy
Very Unhealthy
Hazardous
One outlined cell
After you tap Use My Location, the single square
covering your position is outlined. That one is yours — it is the area the location
line on the card is describing.
Fire detection anchor
At United States scale, this marks the actual satellite detection a ring was built around. The ring is our assessment; this dot is the raw detection underneath it.
Printed in black and white, tell the concern levels apart by their labels and by how dark they are — palest is Low, darkest is Extreme.
Screenshot 7Desktop — pink/magenta spread shading at island zoom, legend visible
The shading is an estimate of where fire could spread. It is not a burning area.
4. “How fresh is what I’m seeing?”
Nothing on the map is live video. Every number has an age, and the map tells you what it is.
Satellite heat detections arrive when a satellite passes overhead. That
happens roughly every few hours, and the information reaches us about 20 to 30 minutes
after the pass. Between passes, a new fire is invisible to the satellite.
Air quality readings are updated about once an hour.
Official weather alerts appear as soon as the National Weather Service
issues them.
“Updated” and “Latest detection” are different
Updated means the last time Kahu Ola successfully fetched
information — it tells you the connection is healthy.
Latest detection means the time of the most recent heat
the satellite actually saw. A recent “Updated” with an old “Latest detection” is normal
and good: it means we checked just now, and there was nothing new to find.
5. What Kahu Ola does not do
This section matters as much as the rest of the guide. Being clear about our limits is
how you know when to trust us and when to look elsewhere.
We do not issue alerts. Kahu Ola is an independent civic project, not a
government agency. We have no authority to order an evacuation or issue a warning.
We do not replace official sources. The Hawaiʻi Emergency Management
Agency, your County Emergency Management office, and the National Weather Service come
first, always. When their guidance differs from anything here, follow theirs.
We do not know your identity. There is no account, no sign-up, no
password, no email address, and no advertising or tracking software anywhere on this site.
Your location never leaves your phone. When you tap
Use My Location, your coordinates are compared against the
map on your own device. They are never sent to our servers, never saved, and never
written into any log.
We do not confirm fires. A satellite detection means an instrument
measured unusual heat. Only people on the ground confirm what is actually burning.
6. Short answers to common questions
The map looks empty — is it broken?
No. An empty map means no unusual heat has been detected and no official alert is active.
That is what most days look like, and it is the answer you want.
Why does the pink shading only appear near fires in the USA view?
At the scale of the whole country, the spread estimate is calculated only around places
where satellites actually detected heat. Shading everywhere would suggest we know
something about everywhere, and we do not.
Can I read this in Vietnamese?
Yes. This guide is available at
kahuola.org/guide-vi, and the map itself
has a language selector in the top corner.
Why does the volcano show up as heat?
Because heat is heat — a satellite instrument cannot tell lava from a wildfire. Kahu Ola
identifies detections inside the Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanic zones and labels them
separately, so lava is never presented to you as a wildfire and never feeds the
fire-spread estimate.
Part 2
Where the information comes from
Three organisations supply almost everything on this map. Learning them once makes the rest of the guide easy.
NASA FIRMS — the satellites that see heat
NASA satellites carry instruments that measure heat coming off the ground. Several times a
day, one of them passes over Hawaiʻi. When it sees a patch of ground that is much hotter
than its surroundings, that becomes an orange dot on our map — usually within about half
an hour of the satellite passing overhead.
What a detection really is. It is heat that an instrument measured from
space. It is not a confirmed fire. It could be a wildfire, but it could also be a lava
flow, a large industrial site, or agricultural burning. This is why we say “detection”
and never “fire” — the honest word is the one that matches what the instrument did.
Why there are gaps. Satellites orbit; they are not parked above Hawaiʻi.
Between one pass and the next, a fire can start and grow completely unseen. This is the
single most important limitation of satellite fire detection, and no amount of clever
software fixes it. It is also why calling 911 when you see smoke matters so much: you are
filling a gap the satellite physically cannot.
Why the volcano appears. A lava lake is extremely hot, so the instrument
sees it exactly as it sees a fire. Rather than pretend otherwise, Kahu Ola marks
detections inside the Kīlauea and Mauna Loa volcanic zones as volcanic and keeps them out
of the wildfire spread estimate entirely.
The instruments are called VIIRS, and they fly on the NOAA-20 and NOAA-21 satellites. You
do not need to remember that — but if you ever want to check our work, that is what to
search for.
The National Weather Service, part of NOAA, runs the weather stations across Hawaiʻi and
issues the official watches and warnings you see here. When our map shows a Flash Flood
warning or a Hurricane advisory, those are the Weather Service’s own words, not
ours. We pass them through; we do not write them and we do not edit them.
Where our wind and humidity come from. The fire-spread estimate needs to
know which way the wind is blowing and how dry the air is. Those readings come from real
Weather Service stations near the area being assessed, and the card names the station it
used so you can judge for yourself how close it is.
Observation and forecast are not the same thing. In Hawaiʻi we use
measurements from actual nearby stations — what the weather is doing right now. On the
United States mainland, station coverage works differently, so we use the Weather
Service’s hourly forecast for that grid square instead. A forecast is a prediction, not a
measurement, and that is a genuine difference in confidence between the two views.
EPA AirNow and Hawaiʻi Department of Health — the air you breathe
The air-quality numbers are official measurements taken by Hawaiʻi Department of Health
monitoring stations and delivered through the EPA’s AirNow system. They update about once
an hour.
These are real instruments at real places, not estimates. That also means they only tell
you about the air at those specific locations. If the nearest station is on the other side
of a ridge from you, conditions where you are standing may genuinely differ — vog in
particular can be very local.
The one distinction that matters: OFFICIAL or ESTIMATE
Everything on this map is one of two things, and every card tells you which by the small
line of text above its title.
“Official · [agency name]” means the information was issued by that
agency. We are showing you their words. If it says Official · National Weather Service,
a meteorologist decided that, not us.
“Estimate · Kahu Ola model” means we calculated it. Our fire-spread
estimate takes satellite heat detections, adds wind direction and humidity, and works out
where fire could plausibly travel. It is a reasoned guess built from real inputs — useful
for awareness, and not a substitute for anything official.
If you remember one thing from this guide, remember to glance at that line before acting
on what a card says.
Screenshot 11Desktop — an Official card and the Estimate card side by side, kickers visible
The small line above each title is the one to check: Official, or Estimate.
Other sources you will see named
USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is the authority on Kīlauea and Mauna
Loa activity. When detections fall inside a volcanic zone, they are where you should go.
PacIOOS supplies Pacific coastal and ocean information.
NIFC and county agencies supply official fire perimeters, and
NOAA HMS supplies smoke plume analysis.
Every layer, card and control on the map, in the same six-line format. Every entry below answers the same six questions in the same order: what it shows, why it exists, where the data comes from, how to read its symbols, what to do when it is active, and where its limits are. Once you have read one entry you know how to read all twenty. The limits line is never skipped — if a layer cannot tell you something, it says so there. Use the list on the right to jump straight to one.
1 · Fire Signals Official
What it shows
Places where a NASA satellite detected unusual heat in roughly the last day.
Why this exists
Hawaiʻi fires often start far from anyone who could see them, on ranch land or in dry grass between towns. A satellite looking down finds heat that no one on the ground has reported yet.
Source
NASA FIRMS, delivered through the Kahu Ola server. The panel header reads Fire Signals · Hawaiʻi or Fire Signals · USA depending on your scope.
Symbols & colors
Orange dots are individual detections. Orange bubbles with a number are several detections grouped together — tap to zoom in and separate them. Tapping a dot opens details including how confident the instrument was.
When it’s active, what to do
Detections near you are a reason to pay attention and check for official warnings — not a confirmation that anything is burning. If you can see smoke, call 911.
Honest limits
Satellites pass every few hours, and information arrives 20–30 minutes after a pass. New fires between passes are invisible. Detections are heat, not confirmed fire, and can come from lava or industrial sources.
2 · Fire Spread Concern Estimate
What it shows
Our estimate of where fire could spread from detected heat, shown as shaded squares.
Why this exists
Knowing a fire exists is not the same as knowing which way it is going. In the wind-driven fires this place has learned to fear — Lahaina in 2023 among them — what mattered was the direction and speed of spread, not the location of the first spark.
Source
Kahu Ola model, built from NASA FIRMS detections plus National Weather Service wind and humidity. The card kicker reads Estimate · Kahu Ola model.
Symbols & colors
Pale pink through deep red, from Low to Extreme concern. At United States scale it appears instead as orange rings lettered L, M, H or E. After using Use My Location, the square containing you is outlined.
When it’s active, what to do
Treat it as awareness, not instruction. It can tell you that conditions near detected heat favour spread in your direction. It cannot tell you to evacuate — only officials can.
Honest limits
This is a model, not a fire-behaviour forecast. Shaded areas are not burning. Some islands have no nearby weather station, so their squares are scored on distance alone — the card says so when that applies.
Screenshot 5iPhone — Fire Spread Concern card showing the per-location line after Use My Location
After sharing your location, the card adds a line describing your square specifically.
3 · Fire Weather Official
What it shows
Areas where weather conditions make fire spread more dangerous — dry air, strong wind, or both.
Why this exists
The most dangerous days are the ones where dry air and strong wind arrive together. That combination can be seen coming before any fire starts, which makes it one of the few fire warnings that arrives early.
Source
National Weather Service and RAWS remote weather stations.
Symbols & colors
Shaded zones on the map, with a status of Normal, Watch, High or Red Flag. Toggle it with the Fire Weather button.
When it’s active, what to do
Worth checking through the dry season, when these conditions cluster. A Red Flag condition means officials consider fire danger critical. Avoid anything that could cause a spark, and follow National Weather Service guidance.
Honest limits
Conditions are measured at stations and applied to the surrounding area. Hawaiʻi terrain changes quickly, so wind in your valley may differ from the nearest station’s reading.
4 · Smoke Official
What it shows
Smoke plumes identified from satellite imagery by human analysts.
Why this exists
Smoke travels far further than flame. People with asthma or heart conditions can be affected on an island where nothing is burning at all.
Source
NOAA Hazard Mapping System (HMS).
Symbols & colors
Translucent grey areas over the map. Toggle with the Smoke Layer button.
When it’s active, what to do
Smoke overhead can affect air quality even when a fire is far away. If you have asthma or a heart condition, check the Air Quality card and consider staying indoors.
Honest limits
Analysis is produced periodically, not continuously, and shows smoke seen from above. High-altitude smoke may not affect the air at ground level at all.
5 · Fire Perimeters Official
What it shows
The mapped outline of a fire’s edge, as recorded by fire agencies.
Why this exists
Everything else on this map is measured from a distance. A perimeter is drawn by the people actually working the fire, which makes it the most authoritative line we can show you.
Source
NIFC and county fire agencies.
Symbols & colors
Outlined shapes around affected land. Toggle with the Perimeters button.
When it’s active, what to do
A perimeter is the most authoritative fire information on the map — it was drawn by people working the incident. Follow instructions from the responding agency.
Honest limits
Perimeters are updated when agencies publish them, which can lag an active fire by hours. An out-of-date perimeter may be smaller than the current fire.
6 · Flash Flood Official
What it shows
Active flash flood watches and warnings for Hawaiʻi.
Why this exists
Hawaiʻi has short, steep streams instead of long slow rivers. Rain falling high on a mountain can arrive at the coast as fast-moving water within minutes, sometimes under a blue sky where you are standing.
Source
National Weather Service. The card kicker reads Official · National Weather Service.
Symbols & colors
A prominent card at the top of the panel, plus affected areas marked on the map. Rain radar switches on automatically when a warning is active.
When it’s active, what to do
Follow the National Weather Service’s instructions exactly. Never drive through moving water — it is the most common cause of flood deaths.
Honest limits
We show alerts as issued. Flooding can begin before a warning is published, especially in steep terrain where water arrives within minutes.
7 · Flood Context Estimate
What it shows
Terrain that tends to channel or collect water, shown only while an official flood alert is active.
Why this exists
An official alert names a region, which can be most of an island. Terrain narrows that down to the gulches and low ground the water will actually use.
Source
A hybrid: the National Weather Service alert decides whether it appears, and the terrain shapes are Kahu Ola’s own. Because the shapes are ours, it is tagged Estimate.
Symbols & colors
Blue-toned terrain polygons beneath the alert areas.
When it’s active, what to do
Use it to understand where water is likely to run during an alert that is already in force. Act on the official alert, not on this layer.
Honest limits
Terrain context is general, not a flood map. It does not predict depth, timing, or whether a specific property will flood.
8 · Rain Radar Official
What it shows
Where rain is falling right now, from weather radar.
Why this exists
The plain reason: rain matters, and seeing where it is falling right now tells you whether an alert is about to get worse or is already easing.
Source
NOAA radar tiles.
Symbols & colors
Green through red overlay, where stronger colors mean heavier rain. Off by default in Hawaiʻi; switches on automatically during a flood warning and in the USA view.
When it’s active, what to do
Use it to see whether heavy rain is heading toward you during a flood alert.
Honest limits
Radar sees precipitation aloft, which is not always what reaches the ground. Mountains block radar beams, so some valleys are poorly covered.
9 · Rain Totals Official
What it shows
How much rain has accumulated over recent hours.
Why this exists
Ground that is already saturated has nowhere left to put new rain. The same shower that was harmless yesterday can cause flooding or a slope failure today, and the difference is what has already fallen.
Shaded accumulation areas. The panel labels the source as live or unavailable.
When it’s active, what to do
High totals on already-saturated ground raise the risk of flash flooding and landslides, particularly on burn scars.
Honest limits
When the upstream feed is down the panel reads NEXRAD QPE · Unavailable — that is an honest statement that no data arrived, not a reading of zero rain. Radar-derived totals are estimates and can differ from a rain gauge.
10 · Wind, Heat & Other Alerts Official
What it shows
Official National Weather Service alerts that are not flood, tsunami or hurricane — high wind, heat, and similar.
Why this exists
Not every hazard fits a category. High wind, heat, and similar warnings still need somewhere to appear, in the words of the office that issued them.
Source
National Weather Service. Card kicker: Official · National Weather Service.
Symbols & colors
A card listing active alerts, with affected zones marked on the map.
When it’s active, what to do
Read the alert and follow the National Weather Service’s instructions. These are their words.
Honest limits
Alerts cover official zones, which are larger than a neighbourhood. An alert for your zone does not mean every part of it is equally affected.
11 · Hurricane Official
What it shows
Active tropical cyclone advisories affecting the region.
Why this exists
These islands are small targets in a very large ocean, so a direct hit is rare — but a storm passing well offshore still sends surf, rain and wind ashore. A near miss is not the same as nothing.
Source
National Hurricane Center. Card kicker: Official · National Hurricane Center.
Symbols & colors
A card showing the current advisory. Appears when an advisory is active or in the USA view.
When it’s active, what to do
Worth checking through the Central Pacific hurricane season, roughly June to November. Follow the National Hurricane Center and your county’s emergency management instructions. Do not wait for a Kahu Ola update to act.
Honest limits
We show advisories as published. Forecast tracks change; always check the Hurricane Center directly for the latest position.
12 · Tsunami Official
What it shows
Tsunami watches, advisories and warnings for Hawaiʻi.
Why this exists
Hawaiʻi sits in the middle of the Pacific, within reach of earthquakes on coastlines thousands of miles away. Waves from those distant quakes have reached these shores with deadly force, and Hilo in particular carries that memory.
A card showing the current status. Appears when an alert is active or in the USA view.
When it’s active, what to do
Move inland and to higher ground immediately, following your county’s evacuation routes. Do not use this map to decide whether to evacuate — use the sirens and official instructions.
Honest limits
For a locally generated tsunami, natural warnings — strong shaking, or the ocean suddenly withdrawing — arrive before any official message. Do not wait for a screen.
13 · Coastal & Surf Official
What it shows
High surf, coastal flood and beach hazard statements.
Why this exists
Winter swells arriving on north- and west-facing shores can be many times the size of the same beach in summer. People who know a beach in one season can be caught out by it in another.
Source
National Weather Service, with Pacific ocean context from PacIOOS.
Symbols & colors
A card titled Coastal & Surf listing active statements.
When it’s active, what to do
Worth checking in winter, when the big swells arrive. Stay off exposed rocks and beaches during high surf, and follow lifeguard and county guidance.
Honest limits
Statements are issued by shoreline region. Conditions vary sharply between individual beaches within the same region.
14 · Landslide Estimate
What it shows
Terrain where heavy rain raises the chance of slope failure, shown while flood conditions are active.
Why this exists
Steep ground plus days of rain is how slopes fail here, and land that has recently burned loses the roots that used to hold it together. Fire and landslide risk are connected in Hawaiʻi in a way they are not everywhere.
Source
Kahu Ola terrain context. There is no official agency issuing landslide warnings for these areas, which is exactly why this is tagged Estimate.
Symbols & colors
A card describing terrain risk, with a low-risk state when nothing is elevated.
When it’s active, what to do
Worth checking during and just after heavy rain, not before it. On steep ground during heavy rain, be alert for debris on roads and for changes in the sound of running water. Report blocked roads to local authorities.
Honest limits
This is general terrain reasoning, not a geological assessment. It cannot tell you whether a particular slope will fail.
15 · Local Hazards Official
What it shows
Locally issued statements and bulletins that do not fit the other categories.
Why this exists
The local forecast office publishes things that do not fit any national category but matter a great deal if you live here.
Source
NWS Honolulu, via the Iowa Environmental Mesonet archive.
Symbols & colors
Listed within the panel’s secondary sections.
When it’s active, what to do
Read the statement — it is written by the local forecast office for local conditions.
Honest limits
Coverage depends on what the local office publishes and on the archive being reachable.
16 · Air Quality & Vog Official
What it shows
Measured air quality at official monitoring stations, including sulphur dioxide from volcanic vog.
Why this exists
Kīlauea releases sulphur dioxide, which becomes the haze people call vog. When the volcano is active and the wind is wrong, the air itself is the hazard — no fire, no storm, just the day’s breathing.
Source
Hawaiʻi Department of Health monitors delivered through EPA AirNow. Card kicker: Official · Hawaiʻi DOH via EPA AirNow.
Symbols & colors
Colored dots with the Air Quality Index number inside: green Good, yellow Moderate, orange Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups, then red, purple and maroon as it worsens. Toggle with the AQI Layer button.
When it’s active, what to do
At orange and above, people with asthma, heart or lung conditions, kūpuna and young children should limit time outdoors. During vog episodes, close windows on the upwind side.
Honest limits
Readings update hourly and describe the air at the monitor, not at your door. Vog is highly local — a ridge between you and the station can mean very different air.
Screenshot 9Desktop — air quality monitor dots showing AQI numbers
Each dot is a real monitoring station. The number is its current Air Quality Index.
17 · Fire Scope — Hawaiʻi or USA Control
What it shows
Switches the whole map between Hawaiʻi and the continental United States.
Why this exists
Many families here have people on the mainland, and mainland fire seasons reach across the ocean as worry. The same map answers both questions.
Source
Kahu Ola control. Labelled Hawaiʻi and USA.
Symbols & colors
The panel header changes to match, and in the USA view the spread estimate appears as lettered orange rings rather than shaded squares.
When it’s active, what to do
Use Hawaiʻi for daily awareness. Use USA to follow mainland fire seasons or check on family elsewhere.
Honest limits
In the USA view, wind and humidity come from hourly forecasts rather than nearby station measurements, and the spread estimate is calculated only around detected heat.
Screenshot 8Desktop — USA scope at continental zoom, orange lettered rings visible
At country scale the estimate becomes rings. The letter is the concern level.
18 · Satellite Basemap Control
What it shows
Swaps the plain map background for satellite photography.
Why this exists
A place name does not tell you what the land looks like. Seeing the actual gulch, ridge or subdivision helps you judge how close something really is to you.
Source
Kahu Ola control, using map imagery. Button labelled Satellite.
Symbols & colors
The background becomes aerial imagery; all hazard layers stay exactly where they were.
When it’s active, what to do
Useful for recognising real landmarks — a gulch, a subdivision, a stretch of highway — when deciding how close something is to you.
Honest limits
Satellite imagery is archive photography, often months or years old. It shows the landscape as it was, not as it is today.
19 · Use My Location Control
What it shows
Centres the map on you and adds a line to the Fire Spread Concern card about your specific square.
Why this exists
The real question is never “where is the fire”, it is “is it near me”. Dragging a map around looking for your own house is the last thing anyone should be doing when they are worried.
Source
Your device’s own location service. Button labelled Use My Location.
Symbols & colors
The map centres on your position and the square containing you is outlined.
When it’s active, what to do
This is the fastest way to answer “what about right here?” Your phone will ask permission the first time; you can decline and still use every other part of the map.
Honest limits
Your coordinates are compared with the map on your own device and never sent to our servers, never stored and never logged. Because the comparison is local, we could not identify you even if we wanted to. If the spread data is unavailable, the card says so rather than guessing.
20 · The Phone Sheet and Layers & Tools Control
What it shows
On a phone, the panel slides up from the bottom of the screen so the map stays the main view.
Why this exists
The plain reason: phone screens are small. If the buttons filled the screen, the map — which is the actual information — would not.
Source
Kahu Ola interface. The handle reads Map Details; inside it, Layers & Tools holds the buttons.
Symbols & colors
Tap the handle to open the panel. The hazard information appears first; tap Layers & Tools to reveal the buttons, and tap it again to hide them.
When it’s active, what to do
The buttons start hidden on purpose, so what is happening around you is what you see first. Open them when you want to change layers.
Honest limits
On a computer this panel is always visible on the right, so there is nothing to open.