Hawaii officials underestimated the fire, did not warn residents
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So far, the fire has killed 89 people as testimonies and official statements show that authorities failed to warn residents of the preventable catastrophe.
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A destroyed house is pictured in the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, western Maui, Hawaii on August 11, 2023. (AFP)
Vilma Reed first became aware of the impending fire approaching Lahaina when she spotted it just a few meters away from her residence.
Much like numerous others who fled the rapidly advancing flames responsible for claiming the lives of at least 89 individuals on Maui, the Hawaiian island, she received no official alert or evacuation directive from US authorities.
"You know when we found that there was a fire? When it was across the street from us," the 63-year-old told AFP at the parking lot of an evacuation center.
"The mountain behind us caught on fire and nobody told us jack," Reed explained, adding that she swiftly gathered her daughter, grandson, and two pet cats into the car and fled the area.
"I raced a line of fire to get my family out," she recounted.
The cause of this alarming fire remained under investigation as of Saturday. However, experts noted that regardless of its ignition source, several circumstances facilitated its rapid spread.
These factors encompassed the uncontrolled proliferation of flammable non-native plants, the volcanic terrain that generated drying downhill winds, an unusually parched winter, and a distant hurricane churning hundreds of kilometers to the southwest of Hawaii.
However, in a state familiar with natural calamities such as earthquakes, active volcanoes, historical tsunamis, and recurrent powerful tropical storms, the absence of official alerts worried many.
Read more: Wildfires in Maui destroyed cultural heritage sites
Hawaii congresswoman Jill Tokuda said to CNN, "We underestimated the lethality, the quickness of fire."
"It's not like hurricane force winds are unknown to Hawaii, or dry brush, or red flag conditions. We saw this before in (Hurricane) Lane. We did not learn our lesson from Lane (in 2018) -- that brush fires could erupt as a result of churning hurricane winds below us to the south," Tokuda added.
The blaze disrupted power and Lahaina residents reported the loss of cellular service, a typical medium for authorities to communicate alerts to the public.
The same power outage would have likely hindered residents from accessing television or radio, other conventional platforms for official warnings.
Curiously, the more robust outdoor warning sirens designed to notify locals of imminent danger remained silent, as confirmed by the Hawaii Emergency Services Administration (HI-EMA) on Friday.
"Neither Maui nor HI-EMA activated warning sirens on Maui during the wildfire incident," the organization stated according to NBC News.
Hawaii's governor, Josh Green, claimed that it was "too early" for him to determine if the absence of sirens resulted from a technical malfunction or a deliberate decision by operators.
In response, the state's attorney general, Anne Lopez, initiated an investigation into the timeline of the blaze, encompassing the "critical decision-making" during the fire's progression.
