Maui residents had little warning before deadly fire

| August 12, 2023

Hawaii emergency management records show no indication that warning sirens sounded before people ran for their lives from wildfires on Maui that killed at least 55 people and wiped out a historic town. 

Instead, officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations – but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.

Hawaii boasts what the state describes as the largest integrated outdoor all-hazard public safety warning system in the world, with about 400 sirens positioned across the island chain to alert people to various natural disasters and other threats.

But many survivors said in interviews on Thursday that they didn’t hear any sirens or receive a warning that gave them enough time to prepare and only realised they were in danger when they saw flames or heard explosions nearby.

The wildfires are the state’s deadliest natural disaster since a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. 

An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 people on the Big Island, prompted the development of the territory-wide emergency system that includes the sirens, which are sounded monthly to test their readiness.

Governor Josh Green warned that the death toll would likely rise as search and rescue operations continue. He also said Lahaina residents would be allowed to return on Friday to check on their property and that people will be able to get out, too, to get water and access other services.

Cadaver-sniffing dogs were brought in Friday to assist the search for the remains of people killed by the inferno, said Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr.

Thomas Leonard, a 74-year-old retired mailman from centuries-old Lahaina, didn’t know about the fire until he smelled smoke. Power and cellphone service had both gone out earlier on Tuesday, leaving the town with no real-time information about the danger.

He tried to leave in his Jeep, but had to abandon the vehicle and run to the shore when cars nearby began exploding. He hid behind a seawall for hours, the wind blowing hot ash and cinders over him.

Firefighters eventually arrived and escorted Leonard and other survivors through the flames to safety.

Fuelled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, at least three wildfires erupted on Maui this week, racing through parched brush covering the island.

The most serious one left Lahaina a grid of gray, ashen rubble, wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes. 

“Without a doubt, it feels like a bomb was dropped on Lahaina,” the governor said after walking the ruins of the town on Thursday morning with the mayor.

Firefighters managed to build perimeters around most of the Lahaina fire and another near the resort-filled area of Kihei, but they were still not fully contained as of Thursday afternoon.