- Lack of Timely Warning: Concerns Arise Over Maui Fire Notifications
- Evacuation Confusion: Mixed Messages Amid Maui Fire’s Spread
- Warning System Challenges: Communication Disruptions and Rapid Flames Hindered Alerts
Residents’ early warnings are being questioned as the Maui fire’s devastation is revealed.
Tuesday began with local evacuations, followed by an announcement that the fire was “100% contained.”
The next day, however, the community of Lahaina on Maui was engulfed by rapidly spreading flames.
According to officials, approximately 80% of the town was devastated.
Although some individuals reported receiving text alerts, it is uncertain why the notifications were not more prevalent. Several residents have reported that powerful winds disabled communications systems hours before the arrival of the fires.
Here are the known facts.
When were residents of Maui notified about the fires?
We now know that the flames began on Tuesday, but no specific warning was issued beforehand.
The National Weather Service issued several warnings for high winds and dry conditions that might spread flames. However, that alert was discontinued on Wednesday.
On August 8, morning fires on Maui prompted an evacuation order for an area east of Lahaina near a school.
Maui County’s official website released a statement shortly before 0900 local time (2000 BST) stating that the forest fire was “100% contained” but that “winds in the area remain a concern.”
Officials did not issue any additional warnings regarding Lahaina until 16:45 local time when the county reported that “an apparent flare-up” of the fire had caused the closure of a bypass near the town and some evacuations.
Before 2200 local time, Mayor Richard Bissen declared an emergency after more evacuations were reported that afternoon. Some hotels instructed their guests to remain in a position to prevent traffic congestion on local roads.
By that time, portions of Lahaina were already engulfed in flames, compelling some residents to flee into the water.
Existed an early warning system?
Hawaii has what officials have previously referred to as the world’s largest all-hazard public warning system, consisting of a network of over 400 sirens across the state’s numerous islands that can alarm residents and visitors to various types of threats.
This week, Adam Weintraub, the chief of the state’s emergency management agency, told the Associated Press that records do not indicate that the sirens were activated on Maui on Tuesday.
Mr. Weintraub stated that emergency signals were sent to mobile phones, televisions, and radio stations.
Many residents have reported not seeing these in the aftermath of the fire, prompting speculation that they only appeared after widespread power and communications disruptions on Maui.
Fire chief Bradford Ventura told reporters on Thursday evening that it had become “nearly impossible” to notify residents due to the ferocity of the flames, which were driven by powerful winds.
He added that the initial Lahaina neighborhoods affected by the fire “self-evacuated with relatively little notice.”
Mayor Bissen told NBC’s Today that the flames’ speed created a “impossible situation” because “everything happened so quickly.”
As of Tuesday night, 2,100 individuals were in shelters, but Mr. Bissen did not comment on warning system functionality.
At a news conference on Wednesday, the governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, stated that the devastation in Lahaina was “extremely difficult to predict, particularly because it occurred during the night with strong winds.”
What did locals hear?
In the aftermath of the fire, many locals and tourists reported not hearing any warnings until the flames were dangerously near to Lahaina or were already sweeping through the city.
Kansas tourist Tee Dang, 35, didn’t realise there was an issue until her Airbnb manager ordered her family to escape.
She added, “We didn’t know what to do, so we hurriedly gathered our belongings. And by the time we reached our vehicle, black smoke was rising.” Ms. Dang, her husband, and their three children were ultimately compelled to flee into the sea.
“I only grabbed some food, water, and a shirt before we left,” she said, adding that they were soon caught in traffic due to the fires. There were fires in every nook and cranny.
Lee Munn, a 42-year-old Lahaina resident, said he was meeting with his neighbors at an apartment complex when he began to scent smoke and observe soot falling on a window due to strong winds. He soon observed falling embers.
“At that point, everyone began to panic,” he continued. While he was packing, the building caught fire, and “everything went black.”
CBS said that resident Dustin Kaleiopu only realised the fire was close when “smoke began to enter our windows.”
“By the time we reached our vehicle, our neighbor’s yard was already on fire,” he continued. There were strangers with water hoses extinguishing flames in our yard.
Carl Cudworth, a 63-year-old resident of Lahaina, was one of the few to report receiving a text message alert.
He told the New York Times that the alert, which sounded “sort of like a fire engine,” was short-lived but gave him and his family enough time to evacuate Lahaina.
