KAHULUI, Hawaii – As Hawaii grapples with its worst disaster in its over 60-year history, locals are questioning whether more could have been done to mitigate the loss of life in the country’s deadliest brush fire in modern history.
Raging fires on August 8 were spread by gusty winds that authorities said killed more than 100 people on the island of Maui.
Leaders who toured the devastation in Lahaina said the aftermath looked like a bomb went off in a town that is home to more than 12,000 people.
Hawaii’s governor described the fires as “difficult to anticipate” but also said the islands were having to deal with a lack of resources and personnel in the lead-up to the flames.
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Despite the National Weather Service office in Honolulu issuing Fire Weather Warnings for the islands in the run-up to the event, emergency management did not use all the tools at its disposal to warn residents of the unfolding disaster on the day of the fires.
According to county officials, outdoor warning sirens were not used for the fires, and cell phone alerts may not have been received due to poor service, hampered by the ongoing event.
In fact, communications between first responders were even difficult, Maui’s Fire Chief Bradford Ventura stated.
“The fire that day moved so quickly that communications back to those who make the notifications were physically and nearly impossible,” Ventura stated in the days after the event. “What we experienced was such a fast-moving fire through the neighborhood that the initial neighborhood that caught fire, they were basically self-evacuating, with fairly little notice.”
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The state boasts having the “largest single integrated public safety outdoor siren warning system in the world,” with at least 80 sirens on Maui, but in recent memory, alarms have only been used during tsunami threats and monthly testing.
According to emergency management, the system is not solely devoted to tsunami threats and can be used during hurricanes, dam breaches, flooding, volcanic eruptions, terrorist threats, hazardous material incidents and even wildfires.
It is unclear if Maui County officials even discussed triggering the sirens on the day the fires raged, with at least one official, Mayor Richard Bissen, saying he wasn’t in Lahaina to know if they were set off or not. The answer, according to locals and state officials, is that they were never used.
The governor’s office said the state’s attorney general review of the entire disaster would involve whether the employment of additional emergency alerts was needed in the run-up to the response.
“The Department of the Attorney General shares the grief felt by all in Hawaiʻi, and our hearts go out to everyone affected by this tragedy,” Attorney General Lopez said in a statement. “My Department is committed to understanding the decisions that were made before and during the wildfires and to sharing with the public the results of this review. As we continue to support all aspects of the ongoing relief effort, now is the time to begin this process of understanding.”
While the official cause of the fires and the response are under investigation, Hawaii’s main energy provider is facing at least three lawsuits, alleging that energized lines played a role in the fires.
Hawaiian Electric said in response to the allegations: “As has always been our policy, we don’t comment on pending litigation. Our immediate focus is on supporting emergency response efforts on Maui and restoring power for our customers and communities as quickly as possible. At this early stage, the cause of the fire has not been determined, and we will work with the state and county as they conduct their review.”