this week wildfires have ripped through the island of Maui strong winds from a hurricane far offshore have helped fuel the fast-moving blazes but there could be another culprit behind Hawaii's wildfires grass specifically Guinea grass in the mid-1800s non-native Hawaiians brought it to the islands to feed their cattle and in the decades since it's taken over especially an abandoned sugar plantations like this one after rainfall Guinea Grass Grows incredibly fast the plant can grow as quickly as six inches per day and ultimately reach a height of 10 feet and during droughts the dry stocks turn into
fuel for what has become one of the deadliest wildfires in Hawaii's history
