Hawaii wildfires guidance for U.S. government websites and social media

Addressing web and digital communications related to Hawaii wildfires

In response to the Hawaii wildfires that began on August 8, 2023, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is issuing guidance for the coordination of federal web and social media communications related to this incident.

The authority for this action comes from Emergency Support Function 15 (ESF-15 - Public Affairs – Annex R) of the National Response Framework where, during incidents of national significance, DHS has the authority to coordinate all U.S. government communications.

On August 15, 2023, in conjunction with the Federal Web Council, DHS issued ESF-15 guidance for federal web and social communications to support the national response to the Hawaii wildfires.

Note

All federal agencies are required to follow this guidance.

Action

NOTE: Use the phrase “Hawaii wildfires” instead of “Hawaiian wildfires” to be respectful of Hawaii’s culture and history. The term “Hawaiian” should only be used to refer to the islands’ Indigenous people.

In brief

Federal agencies with a role in the response effort should stand up an agency.gov/hawaii-wildfires or agency.gov/hawaii page. That page should link to the two primary lanes of communication:

  1. What DHS and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are doing
  2. What the U.S. government is doing

Action

When distributing materials related to the Hawaii wildfires, please include links to these two lanes on all materials.

Action

When posting information to your agency website, please only post information related to your individual agency. Then, link to the authoritative information from other government agencies that is related to your agency mission or ”lane.” Do NOT copy and paste content from other agencies or websites onto your site.

Coordinate emergency response-related web and digital communications with your Federal Web Council representative.

Lanes of communication

What DHS and FEMA are doing

English: https://www.fema.gov/hawaii-wildfires
Spanish: https://www.fema.gov/es/hawaii-wildfires

FEMA has established a landing page on FEMA.gov with the latest information from FEMA and DHS on the disaster. The page is currently promoting response and recovery information and serves as a clearinghouse for related information from DHS. The page is located at https://www.fema.gov/hawaii-wildfires and is available in multiple languages.

What the U.S. government is doing

English: https://www.usa.gov/hawaii-wildfires
Spanish: https://www.usa.gov/es/hawaii-incendios-forestales

GSA has created a landing page on USA.gov for government-wide information related to Hawaii wildfires activities. The page is being populated now — if you have materials from your agency that need to be added to the page, please email usagovemergency@gsa.gov and they will coordinate posting. USA.gov can support both English and Spanish content. The page is located at https://www.usa.gov/hawaii-wildfires, and the Spanish page is at https://www.usa.gov/es/hawaii-incendios-forestales.

Action

Send the title and URL for any Hawaii wildfires related materials posted on your agency website to usagovemergency@gsa.gov.

Social media guidance

Follow the following handles and retweet and share information relevant to your agency.

Local resources:

Action

Follow and retweet the above accounts from your agency social media accounts as appropriate.

Action

If you have content that you would like FEMA to amplify, please forward the link to FEMA-ESF15-Coordination@fema.dhs.gov.