The Tragedy of the Maui Wildfires

Note from the author: As the situation evolves, the information included within this article may be outdated when you read it.

Hawaii. It is a beautiful collection of islands and a hot spot for tourists. However, part of that has become a wasteland of ashes after wildfires scorched the Hawaiian island of Maui. Today, we’re looking into this tragedy and how it could have a lasting effect on Hawaiians.

The fire, which has taken 99 lives, is the deadliest in modern United States history, and still missing people. People who successfully fled the unexpected disaster are now staying at shelters or trying to board a plane out of Hawaii. The unforgiving flames have burned entire neighbourhoods directly to the ground, leaving only the charred skeletal remains of cars, infrastructure, and once luxurious beach-side houses and hotels. Lahaina, a historical town and well-sought tourist destination, mostly got destroyed by the fire. All that remains of the once capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii and home of the hugest banyan tree in the U.S. is ashes. According to Maui County, more than 250 structures were damaged or destroyed. Some buildings, like churches and cemeteries, can trace their roots to centuries ago. Along with those structures goes down the town of long historical and cultural importance.

Although some people, unfortunately, couldn’t escape the flames, some survival stories from the Maui wildfires seem unbelievable. One is the story of a father and mother jumping into the ocean with their five children to escape flames licking at their backs. They later survived to tell the tale and were among a collection of people who resorted to water for safety from the fires. There have been multiple reports of survivors rescued from the waters after spending a night wading in them. The second survival story involves the tech giant Apple, specifically, a phone it makes. A family was in a van when “flames suddenly erupted around them.” With no cell service in that area and the flames slowly closing in on them, they thought they were doomed. Luckily, of the five people in that vehicle, one had an iPhone 14, the latest phone from Apple, and used its “Emergency SOS Via Satellite” feature to call emergency services. The family was rescued successfully from the forest fire by first responders half an hour after calling for help. Both of them seem insane, but I believe that they are great demonstrators of people’s urge to do anything to guarantee survival, which can sometimes lead to surprising solutions.

While the fire has been burning for some time, it is still unclear how the deadly and frightening fires broke out and the matter of one of two investigations following the wildfires. However, we know the fires got fanned by the strong winds of a Category-4 storm, Hurricane Dora.

Residents are angry and demand to know why 80 siren warning towers in Maui didn’t alert people of the potential danger approaching their doorsteps. That prompted a second investigation. The green towers got designed to blast a warning sound in the event of a natural disaster, which could be anything from a volcanic eruption to tsunamis to wildfires. The warning from these sirens very well could have made a difference in the number of lives lost, as people would be more aware in advance of the lurking danger and have had time to flee the deadly circumstances. But the reality is that they didn’t sound, leaving residents in a situation where they only knew about the danger when they could visually see or smell the fires burning. The only warning people received were notifications on their phones. However, that proved useless as cell service was down for most individuals.

There is still a question unanswered, why weren’t safety protocols implemented when it was evident a disaster was approaching fast? Hawaiian Electric Industries has power lines across Maui and is the largest electricity provider in Hawaii, claiming it provides electricity to 95% of state residents. But it reportedly didn’t shut down power in the town of Lahaina ahead of the fires, defying standard practice for limiting the spread of fires. A class action lawsuit alleges the company “chose not to deenergize their power lines during the High Wind Watch and Red Flag Warning conditions for Maui before the Lahaina Fire started,” despite knowing the danger of sparking fires in those conditions. Following the lawsuit filing, the company’s stock plunged some 40%. Although we still can’t pinpoint whether the company’s failure to act caused the fire to rage, we can confirm some 30 fallen power lines disrupted the evacuation of residents and limited the reachable range of first responders.

Another criticized point is the response rate to this disaster. There has been an overall slowed rate at which evacuations and warnings got made. Some possible factors for this may be: Firstly, America’s firefighting resources are mostly helping fight the wildfires in neighbouring Canada, so there are fewer resources for firefighting in Hawaii. Secondly, Hawaii is different compared to any other U.S. state. It is a collection of islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, meaning the resources mainland U.S.A. does have takes more time to transport to Maui. Also, the uniqueness of Hawaii’s geography means authorities can’t just isolate a fire-raging area because there would be no specific place for the evacuated residents, as the nearest “surrounding area” isn’t a car drive away, but a boat trip away. Those two factors may have caused the slow response to the fires. However, we cannot be sure the two are the determining factors, as there are many unclear details.

So what effect would the fire have? The people affected by the fire can get divided into two groups: The residents and the visiting tourists. For many residents, much of what they own, including their homes and possessions, has been burned to ash in the fire. Now homeless people can only stay in their cars or temporary shelters. It gets expected to take a couple of years for Hawaiians to recover and rebuild. We do not know what the future looks like for much of Maui.

For the other group, the tourists, especially in this tourist season and flocking to Hawaii, the fire certainly not giving them a good vacation experience. For both, some may experience trauma from the fire, and even more, are worried about the status and location of their loved ones. The number of the perished is still rising and expected to be much higher as only roughly 3% of damaged areas have gotten searched for remains.

What do you think? Did the mentioned factors cause a slow response? If you managed response efforts, how would you improve the immediate response? Leave your thoughts in the comments. That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you for reading, and best prayers for the people of Hawaii.