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On the morning of the Lahaina fire, Maui firefighters established 100% control of the blaze, including bulldozing the area with dirt. They left to fight other fires and Hawaiian Electric claimed it shut off power.
In the afternoon, winds of 50-80 mph blew the dirt off, exposing embers that reignited and spread toward Lahaina town. This was the cause of the massive destruction. The wooden, closely built structures didn’t stand a chance, and nobody could have prevented or contained the fire. The unfortunate perfect storm conditions were the cause of the major destruction.
No one person, company or administration should be blamed for the loss of Lahaina town. Monday-morning quarterbacking is easy, including passing blame for errors or poor decisions by people in charge. However, the cause of the fire was not preventable. Blaming the seemingly poor decisions by people in a massive emergency is unfortunate, and adds to the grief and sorrow.
James Nagao
Lahaina
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