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The fire that raged through West Maui last week — leveling a historic community and killing more than 100 people — has exposed major weaknesses in the island’s preparations for such a disaster.
Even though officials have long known about the risk of a major blaze, a review of records and interviews shows there was no fire evacuation plan for Lahaina that was widely available to the public.
The blaze arrived with such fury that many people ran into the ocean, with some struggling to remain afloat as they choked on smoke. Others were trapped in their cars as they tried to flee along jammed, narrow roads. Residents have said they got little or no notice of the fire and that evacuation efforts were chaotic.
Hawaii’s community wildfire protection plan for West Maui, dated from 2014, notes that while evacuation protocols exist for tsunamis, fire safety zones in West Maui “are yet to be determined.”
No map of evacuation zones that can be used during a wildfire is published on the main page of the Maui Emergency Management Agency’s website. By contrast, several fire-prone communities in California, such as Malibu, Laguna Beach and Sonoma County, prominently highlight their evacuation zones.
Homes on Nahale Street lie in ruins after last week’s devastating wildfire swept through Lahaina.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Maui County’s website does have a link to a tsunami evacuation map, which was published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But it doesn’t suggest people leave town; instead, it instructs them to head for the foothills.
County officials did not respond to a Times request for comment on why no fire evacuation plan is listed on its website.
Joseph Pluta, president of the West Maui Taxpayers Assn., said he tried to work with the Maui Emergency Management Agency on creating a wildfire plan after a 2018 blaze burned more than 20 homes in Lahaina. But local officials refused to invite him and his group to help to create a customized wildfire plan for West Maui, he said.
The Lahaina fire in West Maui ignited as firefighters focused on the Upcountry fire. What happened next — the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century — left the historic town in ashes.
Pluta, 74, has lived in Lahaina for four decades and played a role in raising funds to build a fire station in West Maui decades ago. Last week, he woke to the blaring sound of a smoke detector. He was able to punch out the screen in his window and scramble outside as choking vapors filled his bedroom. His home was destroyed, and Pluta said he’s lucky to be alive.
Because Lahaina, a former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom, is so isolated — with only one highway in and out — Pluta said West Maui is especially susceptible to wildfire risk; people are essentially trapped if the road is shut down.
“It’s heaven on Earth, but it’s not safe,” said Pluta, who is staying with his daughter elsewhere in Maui. “We have the resources. We just have to reprioritize health and safety and utilize them to resolve these crises. Hopefully this wakes people up.”
As authorities examine the response to the fire, a major question will be whether Maui officals failed to learn lessons from other deadly wildfires over the past several decades. In the wake of those incidents, officials had warned about the dangers of not ordering evacuations sooner.
Many Lahaina residents are furious the government did not sound any warning that most people were able to receive. And yet Maui’s top emergency management official on Wednesday defended a decision against using outdoor air sirens to alert the public.
Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya said at a news conference that widespread evacuation notices for Lahaina were not issued until firefighters reported being overrun by the blaze.
By then, it was too late for many to receive evacuation warnings. Many people said they did not get the text message or broadcast warnings, likely because of power outages and failed communications systems.
Andaya said he did not regret keeping the area’s outdoor sirens silent. He said that because people had been told the sirens were tsunami warnings, he feared they would have headed uphill and “gone into the fire.”
When asked by a reporter whether the sirens would be used in future wildfires, Andaya said that process would be reviewed. But based on the situation last week, he cast doubt on the usefulness of sounding such alarms on the day of the fire, which began Aug. 8, and he defended relying on text messages and TV broadcast alerts, even though few people received them.
A truck travels the Lahaina Bypass after roads opened to the public a week after the devastating wildfire swept through town.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“Most of our sirens are on the coastline. So if there is a fire occurring inland, the sirens will be of no use,” Andaya said. He said people inside may not have even heard the sirens.
Andaya was not on Maui the day of the fire; he said he was at a conference in Oahu.
On Thursday, Andaya submitted his resignation, citing health reasons, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement.
“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible, and I look forward to making that announcement soon,” Bissen said.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green confirmed the sirens are traditionally associated with a tsunami warning, but he said state officials will study whether they should be used for other warnings.
An outdoor warning siren system seen from above in Kihei, Hawaii.
(Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)
Wording on the state’s Emergency Management Agency website describes the sirens as being used “for a variety of both natural and human-caused events; including ... wildfires.” But it also instructs people who hear the siren: If you are in a low-lying area near the coast, evacuate to higher ground, inland or to at least the fourth floor of a concrete building.
Not using sirens for an evacuation order is at odds with trends in California, which has been beset by increasingly deadly wildfires. Having learned of the need for a backup communication system when cellphone towers fail, Paradise and Beverly Hills are installing outdoor sirens this year.
In addition, communities throughout California are training the public to listen for “hi-lo” sirens being sounded by police or sheriff’s patrol cars, which can include recorded messages with details about evacuation orders.
As Hawaii begins to tally the damage and assess how to improve its safety procedures to address extreme fire weather, California can offer many lessons.
“Remember: When you hear hi-lo, it’s time to go!” an announcement on the Orange County Sheriff’s Department website reads.
Officials in California are even working to prepare residents for evacuations before fires ignite. The reasoning is that weather forecasters can offer highly accurate predictions of extreme winds that can swiftly spread flames should anything spark.
To prepare for such weather, California officials have at times pre-positioned firefighters for rapid response; had shuttles ready to evacuate senior homes as soon as orders were given; and urged residents to be on high alert.
Tim Perry, a former chief of staff for the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, said determining when — or whether — to issue an evacuation order is difficult and “turns on highly localized factors like local authorities’ assessment of danger, feasibility of evacuation routes, dangers associated with evacuation, alternatives to evacuation and how the authorities think residents will respond to the order.”
“But in general, low humidity, high winds, an abundance of dry fuel, people living close to that fuel, recent ignitions that can throw off fresh embers that carry a long way in the wind, and reportedly aging power lines all make for a very threatening combination. When thinking about wildfire, it’s hard to imagine worse,” Perry said.
Under such circumstances, he said, it would be reasonable for a local government facing Lahaina’s conditions to issue evacuation orders. An alternative would have been to issue a warning that’s less urgent, rather than mandatory. That could prompt more vulnerable households to leave, while others would be conditioned to get ready to go.
Burned-out cars are lined up in Lahaina, Hawaii.
(Rick Bowmer / Associated Press)
“A timely evacuation warning can help those more vulnerable populations who simply need more time to get to safety. Staging evacuation can also help prevent a sudden, all-at-once rush for the exits,” Perry said.
Just because wildfires have not been deadly in an area in the past is not a reason to forgo a detailed evacuation plan.
“This means disaster plans and mitigation measures should anticipate harms regardless of their origin — regardless of whether you have a volcano, a storm, a flood, a mudslide, or a fire,” Perry said. “Take California: Often associated with earthquakes and fires, its most destructive disaster was the great flood of 1862. So [it’s] always important to be ready for all hazards.”
