A Maui firefighter and longtime local entertainer is releasing new music after a 25-year gap, with a water-saving message aimed at fire-prone neighborhoods — a light, positive local story.

• Pito Javier, a Maui native nearing 25 years with the fire department, is putting out his first new album in a quarter century.
• The first single, "Everything Was Easy," is due in the next couple of weeks and leans on nostalgia for small-town Maui life.
• He credits Kamehameha Schools for pushing him to take singing seriously after starting out in Maui grade schools.
• The tie-in conservation tip: rip out thirsty tropical plants in dry areas and plant drought-tolerant native Hawaiian species instead, which saves water and builds a fire buffer around homes.
• Wildfire risk and water use are now treated as the same problem on Maui, and a firefighter delivering the message underlines that.

Outlook: The single drops within weeks, with a live performance and more of the conservation concert series to follow.