Haw. Rev. Stat. § 185-3

This is the official text of Haw. Rev. Stat. § 185-3, part of Hawaii’s Rev. Stat — part of the compiled statutory law of Hawaii, published by the state as "Rev. Stat." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Powers and duties of the administrator and managers.

Official statutory text

(a) The administrator shall be responsible to the board for supervision of the organization plans and actions of the managers.

(b) The administrator shall have the power and duty to:

(1) Review and approve plans prepared by the managers;

(2) Establish procedures and guidelines for the prevention, control, and extinguishment of fires coming within the meaning of this chapter;

(3) Establish procedures, guidelines, and conditions for the issuance of burning permits and for determining periods when forest reserves, public hunting areas, wildlife and plant sanctuaries, and natural area reserves shall be closed;

(4) Close or partially close forest reserves, public hunting areas, wildlife and plant sanctuaries, and natural area reserves, by restricting certain activities when necessary;

(5) Summon, when necessary, additional firefighting assistance, equipment, supplies, and materials needed to extinguish fires;

(6) Do any act which the manager is empowered to perform under this chapter; and

(7) Establish and maintain facilities for the performance of fire protection, fire prevention, pest control, and forest and range protection and enhancement activities.

(c) The manager shall have the power and duty to:

(1) Prepare a plan for fire protection within the meaning of section [185-1.5];

(2) Take necessary measures for the prevention, control, and extinguishment of fires coming within the meaning of this chapter;

(3) Issue fire warning notices during dry periods or other seasons when fire hazards are great;

(4) Close forest reserves, public hunting areas, wildlife and plant sanctuaries, and natural area reserves to public access or restrict their use during dry periods when necessary, to reduce fire risk;

(5) Close public access to areas in which fire control operations are ongoing;

(6) Issue burning permits as provided in section 185-7;

(7) Receive, audit, and if correct, approve and transmit to the department through the administrator, all reports and accounts for expenses incurred in the prevention, control, and extinguishment of any fires which come within the meaning of this chapter;

(8) Summon, when necessary, additional firefighting assistance, equipment, supplies, or materials to assist in fighting a fire;

(9) Assume full responsibility for directing the control and extinguishment of any fire coming within the meaning of this chapter, including directing the control and extinguishment of any fire on or threatening any lands included in section [185-1.5] as may be provided for under mutual aid agreements with other fire control agencies; and

(10) Conduct educational work in the protection of forest reserves, public hunting areas, wildlife and plant sanctuaries, and natural area reserves against fires. [L 1953, c 100, §5; RL 1955, §19-53; am L 1957, c 98, §2; am L Sp 1959 2d, c 1, §22; am L 1961, c 132, §1; HRS §185-3; am L 1974, c 64, pt of §1; gen ch 1985; am L 1988, c 338, §2; am L 1994, c 140, §4; am L 2025, c 303, §2]

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.