HONOLULU (AP) — Investigators reviewing the emergency response to last year's devastating wildfire on Maui said in a report released Friday they found “no evidence” Hawaii officials made preparations for it, despite days of warnings that critical fir
HONOLULU — Investigators reviewing the emergency response to last year's devastating wildfire on Maui said in a report released Friday they found “no evidence” Hawaii officials made preparations for it, despite days of warnings that critical fire weather was about to arrive.
“The strongly worded nature of the email, had it been communicated to fire managers in other states with better developed severity preparedness strategies, could have gained attention and prompted discussion and operational planning,” the report said. “It was a call for State of Hawaii fire managers to prepare for the impending extreme weather.”
Maui fire commanders discussed the forecast, but “no evidence of pre-event preparedness plans by the MFD were produced,” the report said. The police and fire departments never established a unified incident command post, and as a result it was more difficult to know who was responding to what, or where evacuation routes were blocked by downed trees or power lines.
Maui Fire Department policy requires relief engines — those that back up the front-line fleet during major events — to always be ready to respond to an emergency. But some lacked essentials such as breathing equipment and portable radios, the report said. Personnel at fire stations spent valuable time locating and loading items such as hoses, nozzles and hand tools.
The review determined that the lack of planning fit a long pattern of apathy to wildfire risk in Hawaii, where tsunamis and hurricanes are considered more pressing dangers, and it was among many factors that set the stage for the catastrophe. The report suggested that fire managers might have focused on the first sentence of the National Weather Service’s email, which noted Hurricane Dora was expected to pass south of the state, rather than make landfall, and thus assumed Hawaii was safe.
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