Hawkeyed Safety Services LLC

My heart aches for the people of Maui, especially Lahaina.  Lahaina was a community of over 13,000 people and a very popular tourist area.  On August 8, 2023, an apocalyptic fire thought to be started by a downed power line due to gale-force winds, ignited dead grass, rushed down the slopes toward the ocean, and turned into one of the deadliest fires in the U.S. in more than a century. There are well over 100 people dead, several hundred missing, thousands who have been relocated elsewhere, and over 2,200 structures destroyed. 

The days following the firestorm blame took center stage.  Several government officials stated Maui had a bad fire due to “climate emergency” or “climate crisis”.  Blaming is a scapegoat for poor management and the enemy of safety because learning does not take place.  For healing to start taking place, the people of Maui and the rest of us should know why there was a lack of planning and preparation for fires and what needs to be done in the future to prevent another one.  The town did not have the capacity to withstand this fire because proper lifesaving controls were not in place.  Both preventive and mitigative controls failed and they include:

1.Government officials ignored the nonnative grass issue for years.  With the rapid decline in agriculture (sugar cane) controlled burns didn’t take place and water irrigation wasn’t used.  The highly invasive grass was fuel for the fire and there were many areas where dead grass was under power lines. 

2.Most, if not all, electrical power lines are overhead in Maui.  The National Weather Service had issued a red flag warning on the day of the fire.  The utility company did not shut off power to the community. 

3.A government agency had recently documented hurricanes and tsunamis as high risk yet classified wildfires as low risk.

4.Lahainan residents were not preemptively evacuated. 

5.Water release for the firefighters was delayed and the pumphouse had burned so there was a lack of water to fight the fire.  Moreover, the failing dams over the years lost Maui’s ability to store water.  Firefighters need better training and proper resources.

6.Emergency sirens were never sounded to warn residents.  Cell phone service was lost

7.A key exit out of Lahaina was barricaded.  The Lahaina Bypass was shut down.

8.There were a lack of fire shelters.

The domino effect of wind, fuel and electrical spark(s) lead to a perfect storm, and over 80% of Lahaina was destroyed by the deadly blaze in a few hours.  The lack of planning and preparation is now obvious so I hope Maui can learn from this and invest in future lifesaving controls.  I have walked Front Street in Lahaina 6-7 times in the past 5 years and will miss my conversations with the local people and what this area meant to them. I hope they can come together and build back stronger.