The scale of the wildfires that ravaged the island of Maui in Hawaii in 2023 was the result of a combination of factors that led the population and local authorities to underestimate the risks involved, according to an official report published Friday.
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The fires killed about a hundred people and left thousands homeless on the island of Maui, destroying about 2,000 acres and wiping out the tourist town of Lahaina.
“This devastation cannot be attributed to any one organization, individual, action or event,” said Steve Kerber of the Fire Prevention Research Institute, an independent agency commissioned by the state of Hawaii.
“The conditions that led to this tragedy existed for years,” he added at a news conference to present the second part of the report requested by Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez.
The authors of the report believe that local authorities, businesses and the population were not aware of the risks and ignored possible warnings, particularly in the event of strong winds, which could promote the spread of a fire.
AFP
Hawaii Electric has been accused by the public of negligence for failing to cut off power when high winds were forecast.
The report also concludes that existing standards were decades out of date and that the response of emergency services after the fire broke out was not sufficiently coordinated.
Maui County’s management “consisted of a siloed command structure that contributed to a lack of communication to the public and between agencies.”
The governor of the US state of Hawaii announced in early August that an amicable agreement had been reached with the affected people, who will receive more than four billion dollars to abandon a lawsuit. This sum will be paid by the State of Hawaii, a local electric company and other institutions and companies.
The total cost of the disaster is expected to be more than $12 billion, according to Governor Josh Green.
The aim of the report, according to Anne Lopez, is not to point the finger at those responsible but to better prepare Hawaii, with more than a hundred recommendations.
“The risk is real… and climate change will only continue to make things worse,” she said Friday, adding that more than 1,500 fires had required intervention since the deadly August 2023 wildfires, seven of which resulted in “significant” fires.
