Dr. Ze’ev Gedalof, professor in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, spoke to CBC News about the devastating wildfires ravaging the island of Maui in Hawaii.

Many factors including dry vegetation, hurricane winds and high temperatures contributed to create a “perfect storm” for the wildfire that sparked Tuesday, said Gedalof, calling it an “accident waiting to happen.”

Maui’s natural vegetation is not adapted to wildfire, he said.

Gedalof is a professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Geomatics. He studies forest ecosystem dynamics, climatic variability and natural resources management.