The deputy director for water resources of Hawaii's Department of Land and Natural Resources,
Kaleo Manuel, was delaying water getting to the fires.
He thought that the water should be used more equitably and spent five hours asking one
native Hawaiian farmer if it would be okay to divert some water to the fire company.
The taro farmer missed the call and the fire spread.
Here's Kaleo Manuel explaining his water philosophy.
We treated, native Hawaiians treated water as one of the earthly manifestations of a
god and a kua kane.
And so that reverence for a resource and that reciprocity in relationship was something
that was really, really important to our worldview and wellbeing.
My motto is always like, let water connect us and not divide us.
We can share it, but it requires true conversations about equity, you know, like water equity.