KULA (HawaiiNewsNow) - A nonprofit group has created a long firebreak made of mulch to keep future blazes from consuming swaths of land in the Kula area.

The Kula Community Watershed Alliance (KCWA) has been mulching dead or damaged wattle trees and spreading the wood chips around the gulch that funneled the destructive fire in August 2023.

Two dozen structures were destroyed.

Wattle trees are highly flammable and once made up a significant portion of the Kula forest landscape.

“We know how detrimental and hazardous they are,” said Sara Tekula, executive director of KCWA.

In just about a month, KCWA has made a three-inch deep mulch path that stretches 1.5 miles, creating a fire break that snakes through a property next to the gulch.

The path can slow a fast-moving fire and provide sa

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