Gov. Green reiterates commitment to Maui recovery, rebuilding

With crews continuing to sift through the ashes and rubble of Lahaina and the death toll up to 114, Gov. Josh Green on Friday redoubled his commitment to the recovery and rebuilding effort now under way.

“I will do everything in my power as governor to bring us back, to help us heal and to find a way to move forward past this tragedy,” Green declared in a live-streamed speech aimed at residents across the islands.

The 9-minute address was billed on Green’s social media as providing “critical updates” but it was short on details, plans and new initiatives.

Earlier in the week, he said the speech would paint an overview of the disaster, and that’s what it did, recapping the tragedy, offering a few brief survivor stories and reviewing the scope and progress of the recovery effort.

He said more than 2,200 buildings were destroyed and another 500 damaged, at an estimated cost of nearly $6 billion.

There are now 470 search and rescue workers and 40 search dogs have examined more than 60% of the 5-acre disaster area.

Green said the state has so far found 2,000 housing units on Maui to shelter those displaced by fire.

In Lahaina, meanwhile, community activists called on Green to refrain from rushing to rebuild the community without first giving people time to heal and especially not without input from the people who live in West Maui.

“Give our Lahaina community time to grieve. The fire occurred only 10 days ago, and many people are still in shock and mourning,” said Tiare Lawrence of Na ʻOhana o Lele, a group that has mobilized to help fire victims.

In a news conference at Wahikuli Beach Park in Lahaina Friday morning, members of the group asked the governor to put the community first in any planning process for the rebuilding of Lahaina and to not let fast-tracked development occur at the expense of community control.

Coalition members also called on Green to amend his emergency proclamation to allow the state’s Sunshine Law to remain in full force. The law, they said, guarantees the public’s right to know about government decision-making. The discussions and decisions regarding the rebuild of Lahaina should be made in the open and with full community participation, they said.

West Maui Native Hawaiian leader Keeaumoku Kapu said the community needs time to heal before the planning effort begins.

“We feel that the government is steamrolling the process without consulting the leaders of our community,” Kapu said.

“We don’t want to hear the governor’s office saying we have a plan for Lahaina, because none of us got to speak to the governor,” added Kekai Keahi, a West Maui activist and one of the leaders of the cultural group Kamalu O Kahalawai. “Your plan, in my opinion, is not the plan. The plan gotta come from the people of Lahaina.”

The coalition was especially concerned about the impact of development to West Maui’s environment and pointed out that a plantation legacy and a history of mismanagement of resources, including stream and ground water, contributed to the fast-moving fire.

More than a dozen of Lawrence’s uncles and cousins fled the inferno last week and went east to her Pukalani home, according to The Associated Press.

In his address Friday night, Green said, “Lahaina belongs to its people — and we are committed to rebuilding and restoring it the way they want it.”

Green said he instructed Attorney General Anne Lopez to impose enhanced criminal penalties on anyone who tries to take advantage of victims by acquiring property in the affected areas.

With water shortages hampering firefighters, the lack of evacuation warnings and a decision not use the sirens in Lahaina bringing harsh criticism from some residents, Green reiterated in his address that he ordered Lopez to oversee a formal review of the actions surrounding the disaster.

“We will get to the bottom of exactly how the fire started, how our emergency procedures and protocols need to be strengthened, and how we can improve our defenses to protect us in the future,” he said.

First lady Jaime Kanani Green was at the governor’s side, and she grew emotional as she talked of the devastation.

“Tragically, it took less than a single day for us to lose Lahaina in the deadliest fire our country has seen in more than a century,” she said, her voice trembling.

The governor urged people to not travel to the area affected by the disaster in West Maui, until further notice, except for returning residents and authorized emergency relief workers.

“However, all other areas of Maui and the rest of Hawaii are safe and open to visitors, and we continue to welcome and encourage travel to our beautiful state,” he said, adding that it would support the local economy and help speed the recovery of those who are suffering.

Maui County officials said the death toll from the Maui fires climbed to 114 from 111 on Friday. The families of six victims have been notified, while another four victims were identified but their families have not be located or informed, officials said.

In other developments, another lawsuit was filed against Hawaiian Electric alleging that its equipment and failure to de-energize its power lines helped spark the disaster.

The suit was filed Thursday by Morgan & Morgan, the nation’s largest personal injury law firm based in Orlando, Fla. Founder John Morgan called Lahaina his “home away from home.”

“My family’s home overlooks Front Street in the heart of Lahaina, which was one of the hardest-hit areas,” he said in a news release announcing the suit. “I’m devastated by the losses that we have endured, and am committed to doing everything in my power to seek justice.”

The complaint joins a handful of other lawsuits alleging roughly the same thing, and Hawaiian Electric’s stock has taken a huge hit.

In Honolulu, a Maui Fire Department captain seriously injured while battling the Lahaina flames is continuing to recover at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu, according to Hawaii Fire Fighters Association President Bobby Lee.

At least three Lahaina residents told the Star- Advertiser that on their way out of town to escape the inferno they witnessed firefighters performing CPR on another firefighter on the side of the road. Other reports on social media describe seeing a firefighter being dragged by a truck and suffering severe injuries to his leg.

In an interview with KGW News in Portland, Ore., Caroline Reay and Gerry Williams, who were on Maui celebrating their anniversary, described their ordeal in trying to evacuate from the Pioneer Inn in Lahaina town and what they saw as they drove off.

“It was just insanity at one point,” Reay recalled. “On the other side of the roadway a fire vehicle was moving along and a young man, a firefighter, was being dragged along on the outside, and two blocks down they stopped and they were doing CPR on him. It was complete chaos.”

U.S. Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell apparently was briefed on the incident by Maui officials and told MauiNow that firefighters were outpaced by the Lahaina fire and had to abandon their truck and evacuate in a different vehicle.

“So they all got into a vehicle. One of them — they couldn’t all fit, so one of them … was held onto and unfortunately partially drug. And so he is severely injured, but he is recovering well.”

Lee said he is unaware of any other major injuries to firefighters during the ongoing response to wildfires in Lahaina, Kihei and Upcountry Maui.

In the meantime, a fundraiser has been launched for Maui County first responders, including firefighters, lifeguards and emergency medical technicians who were directly affected by the wildfires.

Aina Momona, a Honolulu- based Native Hawaiian-led nonprofit, is working with the Maui Firefighter’s Relief Association on the effort.

More than 20 first responders have reportedly lost their homes to the fire, and at least one, a Maui Fire Department captain, was seriously injured and is in recovery at Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu.

A news release said funds will be distributed, in partnership with Maui agencies, to verified first responders to assist with temporary housing, medical expenses, and replacement of lost items.

On Thursday, a U.S. Department of Justice fire investigation team arrived on Maui with the aim of determining the origin and cause of the Lahaina wildfire.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ National Response Team will also join Federal Bureau of Investigation agents who are working with Maui police to both find missing persons — estimated to be over 1,000 — and identify people killed in the fire.

Officials also said FEMA began using excavators to clear large debris from certain properties in a move to give cadaver dogs access to double-check for human remains.

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Star-Advertiser staff writer Christie Wilson contributed to this report.