Why is All of West Maui Locked Down?

Update 8/24

Most Recent Press Conference

40:10

FBI seems unaware West Maui has cell service and internet connectivity issues. Blames residents for not answering phone and returning calls as one reason for the delays in updating missing persons list

Police Road Closures

1:02:30

Police chief denies Residents were directed into harms way but concedes roads may have been closed due to power lines. Says this will be detailed in after action reports but they are busy with search and recovery

Mayor lost communication with Fire Department

1:06:20

Mayor says they lost contact with Fire Engine 6 because it was burned so he had no updated reports when he was interviewed at 6 pm and seemingly unaware of the seriousness of the situation in Lahaina.  They were the main form of communication with the Emergency Operation Center. This sort of confirms they didn’t have enough equipment at Lahaina.

Didn’t mention any communications with Police Department.

Next, a commenter informed me the ban on visitors would be until October 17.  He is in Napili (north of Lahaina) and seems to think its a good thing. Obviously, he is closer to this than I am but my reply in part

The workers and displaced families are mostly replacing tourists, so if anything West Maui is depopulated, and my understanding is the highway  going through Laihaina is fine.

I dont see the need for any more supplies going into West Maui than before the fire at this point, so I guess I don’t see why there should be any restrictions.

I found this from the West Maui Community plan for context

West Maui is also a popular visitor destination and one of the largest employment centers on Maui, drawing an estimated average daytime population of 63,706 persons. This includes…..19,868 workers from West Maui and elsewhere who commute to West Maui, and 33,551 visitors

https://www.mauicounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/131915/West-Maui-Community-Plan-January-2022

Here is Governor Green seemingly admitting the Fire Department is lacking resources

A fire broke out on the outskirts of Lahaina at around 6.30am on Tuesday, August 8 and was declared '100 percent contained' several hours later.

The fire crews then left at around 2pm .......even though the fire was still burning within the containment area.

Brad Ventura, Maui's fire chief, said crews had left the initial blaze to deal with 'numerous additional calls for service in other parts of West Maui'. Ventura said many of those calls were related to downed power lines.

At around 2.45pm, a local who was concerned by the flareup, which sent flames and smoke shooting up around her home, dialed 911. Crews rushed back, but this time, the fire was out of control.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green said that Maui must spread its firefighting resources carefully as it cannot rely on outside help in the same way other states can.

We don’t have a lot of extra firefighters that can come across from, you know, Jersey or Pennsylvania.

'We have what we have. So the fire broke out again and spread to the town, and the town was dry. So the rest, of course, is tragedy.'

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12437623/amp/Lahaina-blaze-ABANDONED-firefighters-tackle-downed-Maui-powerlines-inferno-killed-115-locals-claim.html

If they had adequate resources that initial fire never gets left unattended until the winds died down

And this is a supplement to my initial post.

Now, in the aftermath of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century, people in the Lahaina area are again asking the same questions, further challenging recent statements made by county and state officials that “nobody saw this coming,” that “this has never happened before.”

“We were begging to be taken seriously, but our voices weren’t being heard,” Samantha Dizon said. “2018 should have been a wake-up call. But nothing was done here.”

During fiscal 2023, Maui County designated $1.1 million for emergency management — nearly 85 percent of which came from grants — out of a general fund budget of $1.07 billion

Joseph Pluta, the head of the West Maui Taxpayers Association. In September 2018, the nonprofit created a draft plan to better prepare the area for disasters, using a state-provided template for residents. Pluta said the county declined to participate, so the plan never went anywhere.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2023/08/22/maui-fire-2018-lahaina-warning/

End Update

I wasn’t going to do another post on Lahaina but I saw something that caused me to ask : Why is All of West Maui Locked Down?

In alignment with Governor Green, the Hawai'i Tourism Authority urges visitors to refrain from going to West Maui (including Lahaina, Nāpili, Kāʻanapali, and Kapalua) as a means of respect to the people and places that have been lost in Lahaina during this devastating tragedy. The impacted area of Lahaina remains off limits to the public as the search and recovery efforts continue.

"No one can travel to West Maui right now. We will share when that is possible again. Only returning residents and authorized emergency relief workers should come here now

https://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/23/08/n33977356/governor-green-visitors-should-avoid-west-maui-for-now-travelers-welcome-elsewhere-on-maui-and-oth

Lahaina (12,000 pop) had roughly half of West Maui’s population (25,000).

While I understand locking down Lahaina, where search and recovery efforts continue, I also learned  West Maui residents were prevented from returning to West Maui after buying supplies, which effectively locked them down in an area with no power , and lacking any reliable cell service or internet connectivity.

Fortunately at this point the situation has improved somewhat, although internet access is still a problem.   Residents who have ID can come and go. The ban on non-residents going to West Maui effectively kills the tourism business that they depend on.  It also effectively keeps independent media from coming in and interviewing those in West Maui who may have experiences to share.

How long will these restrictions last?  They don’t say. The search and recovery will take months if not longer.

I am getting the sense the coming land grab will not be limited to Lahaina.  Many jobs will be lost in the rest of West Maui as a result of the lockdown and with no income many will be forced to sell and leave.  Even if open fully Lahaina was the main tourist attraction on West Maui, so the effect on the local economy and presumably real estate prices will be significant.  Hopefully I am wrong on this.

Lahaina residents still being denied access to homes with National Guardsmen enforcing the ban. The reason is supposedly due to toxins.  However, you see the President at Ground Zero without a mask or respirator, so thats a pretty feeble excuse

I was in a nasty house fire a few years ago during a visit to my home town that landed my sister in hospital on a respirator for a week and had me on the street without my shoes or phone. I was allowed back into the house the next day for a short while to collect personal belongings. What a stink. Toxic is right, but not a huge problem if only for a short while.

<Note: Too Long for Email>

While I am at it let me ramble on a bit more.  We have heard many reasons why the Lahaina inferno happened , some of which I have covered in previous posts.  Here is my list of those that have been covered by MSM

-Wild grasses growing in fallow plantation fields

-High winds knocking down power lines starting fires, and Hawaii Electric  not energizing the powerlines even after much of the city was out of power

-Lack of water for firefighters due to supply issues from drought (Climate Change) and water leaking from homes which were burned which depressurized the system

-Lots of old wooden structures that do not meet modern fire codes

-Failure to sound the Sirens to evacuate residents.

-The 2 most important people handling Emergencies (Fire Chief and  Emergency Management Agency Director ) were off island,

All of these are true, but there are some important omissions

1. What seems to be a major failure in communication between Mayor, Police, Emergency Operating Center and Fire Departments.  Was this due to lack of communication devices that could work when power and cell services are down?.  How would this be possible in a post 9/11 world, especially in a rich state with lots of government funding?

2. Police Road Blocks which might have been warranted in normal times but not when evacuations are needed in a large fire

3. Inadequate staffing and equipment for the Maui Fire Department.  The resources simply were not there , especially given there were multiple fires at the same time around Maui.  Lack of funds?

4. The apparent lack of preparation, Emergency Plans and drills for a major wildfire affecting an urban area, resulting in a lack of coordination and cooperation between Water and Power Companies, Police and Fire Department, and the Mayor

5. Failure to approve a rate hike for Hawaii Electric to belatedly upgrade their system to minimize fire hazards .

The biggest concern I have is the obvious lack of transparency by top officials as to what happened and when , and what appears to me to be a coverup of major proportions, perhaps just to cover their asses, or maybe something more.

I have yet to see a coherent timeline from the Mayor, Fire Chief and Police Chief in their interviews

Whats important to note is none of these guys were in Lahaina that day. I kind of would like to hear from those who were running the show in Lahaina and first responders. They seem to have been muzzled

Here is a good example.

Mayor Bissen at 6:00 pm on 8/8 had not a clue what was happening in Lahaina at the time he was being interviewed

Clueless

https://www.kitv.com/video/news/mayor-bissen-appears-unaware-of-lahainas-fate-during-live-interview-on-day-of-fire/video_017036b6-a2a8-5be8-90fb-a8e32a9cc32e.html

At about the time he is speaking and waiting for his 7 pm update this is Lahaina

Above picture taken from a YT video I cant find anymore.  Here are some other pics of interest

Update-Found it

Starts at 4:30

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3/

Full 8/8 Bissen Interview

https://www.kitv.com/video/news/maui-county-mayor-richard-bissen-gives-the-latest-on-fires/video_e23fe63d-0572-5c4e-add4-d1d9e90e0609.html

Planning

9 years ago a plan was proposed to address the Fire Risk. It recommended managing the land and invasive grasses ,evacuation planning and doing fuel breaks (cutting dry grass at the edge of town so there's kind of like a buffer when a wildfire comes)

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/15/1193990034/maui-has-a-safety-plan-for-wildfires-but-has-struggled-to-fund-it

But apparently due to lack of funding they didn’t do all they had to do. Clearly they did little or no Evacuation planning, land management or fire breaks.

Then I decided to look at what kind of resources Maui devoted to fire fighting. On the main island of Maui with 140,000 people and 728 square miles they have 10 fire stations.   Each station is generally equipped with a fire engine, ladder truck and water tanker.

The Maui Department of Fire & Public Safety / MFD …..resources include fourteen fire stations, including ten stations on the island of Maui, three stations on the island of Moloka’i, and one station on the island of Lānaʻi,

My hometown near Boston with a population of 100,000 and an area of 16 square miles has 8 fire stations, each one similarly equipped.  When there is a big fire the nearest station responds and calls in help as needed, so 3-5 stations can be fighting the same fire within minutes

In West Maui there are only 2 stations, one in Lahaina and a smaller one up north in Napili.  Its unknown if  Napili  (north of kapula airport) assisted or if it was deployed to fight the fires in Kula

Here is Mayor Bissen at 1:30 pm on August 8

He starts off talking about Kula fire,  at the time Lahaina fire was contained but Kula which was far away upcountry was not. Seemed most of concern was Kula where they had 29 fire fighters (all of Maui has only about 65)

I am guessing in Kula (29 firefighters) they had 3 -4 stations working that one

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2/

https://fire.fandom.com/wiki/Maui_Department_of_Fire_%26_Public_Safety

The other nearest station to Lahaina was in Kihei to the South, but they had their own fire to deal with .

So in all likelihood,  Lahaina might have had 2 stations on 8/8, or 2-4 engines/ladders and 1 tanker.  Even if they increased the staffing they were limited in equipment. And most of that was likely wiped out by the afternoon when they lost water and then some of their engines and pulled out.

It seems likely that by 5 pm, Lahaina had little or no equipment or water to put out any fires, and whatever they had was probably on the South Side of Lahaina, meaning the center and north parts of Lahaina were on their own.

This becomes more important when you consider that by 7 pm there were still no fires on the North Side in Wahikuli and with the winds blowing East there seemed to be little risk of spread there. Unfortunately, a new fire must have started north of the residential area in the grass fields because before 10:25 it was fully engulfed in flames

That big fire at top is Wahikuli.

It burned right up to the tennis courts on the edge of town while leaving the Fire Station and Police Station unscathed

(Chalk up another Coincidence)

How that latter fire started would be very nice to know.  It would be sad if it were power lines because by that time the power was already out, so what excuse could Hawaiian Electric have had not to  de-energize the power lines? Of course the question has to be asked, was anyone from Maui Govt even in contact with Hawaiian Electric during the day?

After all, one of the excuses by Hawaiian Electric was they feared cutting the power would prevent the water pumps from providing water. But….

John Stufflebean, the county’s director of water supply, said backup generators allowed the system to maintain sufficient overall supply throughout the fire.

How could Hawaiian Electric not know this?

So anyways, I believe Maui Fire Department  was critically under equipped and understaffed for an island that size, and given multiple fires  around the island this left Lahaina exposed.  Much like 9/11 when fighter jets were sent blindly to other areas leaving DC airspace and the Pentagon undefended.

How is this possible on an Island Full of Billionaires in a rich state.?

After looking into Hawaiis economics its like the 7th richest state in the country by income, with a huge tourism industry.  Fire Services are usually paid by the county , mainly funded by property taxes.  Unlike in many states Maui’s and other counties schools are fully paid for by the state, which means the property taxes should go a long away, especially with all the billionaires with homes there. However, they also have the lowest property taxes in the nation.

An owner-occupied single-family home on Maui is assessed for $950,000. At a possible tax rate totaling $2.00 per thousand, and with the owner-occupied exemption of $200,000, the assessed value drops to $750,000 and the potential MAUI PROPERTY TAXES FOR ONE YEAR WOULD BE APPROXIMATELY $1,500.

https://www.hawaiilife.com/blog/maui-countys-very-low-2022-2023-real-property-tax-rates/

Well, I am guessing property owners are going to experience a rather large increase in property taxes soon.

Also low in property insurance

The average cost of homeowners insurance in the Aloha State is $382 per year for $250,000 in dwelling coverage, which is significantly less than the national average of $1,428 per year for the same amount of coverage

Now what about Hawaiian Electric.  They seem to have been painted as a villain by MSM , a big private for profit corporation putting profits over safety.  Lest we forget, Electric Companies are highly regulated and have to get approval to increase rates to pay for big projects

In June 2022, in a regulatory filing, Hawaiian Electric noted that the "risk of a utility system causing a wildfire ignition is significant,” and pointed out PG&E’s role in causing California wildfires. In the same filing, which included a plan to address the risk, the company identified West Maui as a critical priority area and sought permission to raise utility rates before beginning work on the necessary upgrades.

Hawaiian Electric estimated that changes to its equipment, clearing fire hazards, and other upgrades in West Maui, including near Lahaina, would cost about $6.2 million.

….,The proposal languished in a bureaucratic docket maintained by the Hawai Public Utilities Commission. The commission only responded, asking for an update on the plan, in June of this year…..

Hawaiian Electric, While Failing to Act on Fire Prevention, Had Cozy Ties to Regulators

In 2015, lawmakers passed legislation mandating that the state derive 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2045, the first such requirement in the U.S. 

Hawaiian Electric revealed in 2017 that it would reach the goal five years ahead of schedule but that focus may have come at the cost of fire mitigation according to some experts.

It wasn't until 2022 that Hawaiian Electric sought regulatory permission to raise rates to fund plans to prepare the grid for climate change-related stresses, including wildfires.

It said it planned to spend about $190 million across Hawaii on protective measures - but said it wouldn't start work until the state had approved the proposal to recoup costs from customers.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12417253/amp/Hawaii-Electric-focused-obsessively-renewable-energy-spending-245-000-wildfire-safety.html

I would say Hawaii’s goal of going Green had more to do with the Lahaina Inferno than Global Boiling. Not letting Hawaiian Electric off the hook here, but there is more than one villain.

Numerous Explosions Reported

Eric West is a Real Estate agent from West Maui who has covered the fires from day zero on You Tube

https://m.youtube.com/@hawaiirealestateorg

Also he helped put together the following web site for survivors and doing a lot of work to help people there

https://mauilfg.org

He has some great video of the fires starting from 8/8 and aftermath with some good interviews

Here he interviews a couple from Wahikuli which as mentioned above  was the last part of Lahaina affected by the fires.  Given the wind was heading straight out to the ocean the residents thought they would be unaffected by the fire to the South but sometime after 9 pm were told to evacuate

Sheltering at a nearby hotel lobby he tells of many explosions heard throughout the night and the day after he visited his home and talks about how the steel in his steel knife collection was deformed, something that he says shouldn’t happen without temperatures of 2500 deg F which open air fires don’t reach. (Start 18:19 of video

He mentioned the Fire Department thought it could be caused by cars or propane tanks but propane tanks are designed not to explode in fires, although cars are a possibility.  However, the frequency of the explosions he heard makes him skeptical

Thats pretty interesting if true.

He also mentioned one of his fire fighting friends said the afternoon flare up of the wild fire in the afternoon was accompanied by a fire in a nearby wood shed which appeared unrelated to the wild fire that originally started due to downed power lines, but they were unable to investigate further.

While the fallen power lines were no doubt a factor, maybe the major factor, one can not rule out arson or other means to expand the scale of the fire, opportunistic or planned.

Any investigation should start with satellite imagery

Bad Interviews

Here is Fire chief Brad Ventura’s latest interview.  He does a better job here but still dances about the human resources and equipment he had available in Lahaina, the time firefighters withdrew, and timeline when water was no longer available.  He basically said that almost 2 weeks after the fire that not all of the fire fighters (how many) had been interviewed. This is a big issue. Hopefully he had asked them to write down their recollections soon after the event

5:20. How did the firefighters get out.  “This story is best told by the firefighters”

6:00 In response to question of timeline for the water supply disruption he says this will be done as part of the After Action Review when they have time to interview everybody.   

Police chief Interview

He finally gave one.  Garbled gobbledygook.  Doesn’t mention police blockades and interviewer does not ask.  No mention of communications between him and the Lahaina Station , nor him and Mayor.

https://news.yahoo.com/maui-police-chief-praises-grit-075900234.html

Securing the Lahaina Border

Mesh fencing surrounds some of the burned areas of Lahaina, as seen on Front Street .

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2023/08/22/breaking-news/lahaina-search-turns-to-very-treacherous-multistory-buildings/

They also are putting them up along the highway/bypass, but are calling them Dust Screens

https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2023/08/dust-screens-put-in-around-lahaina-town/

We couldn’t build a fence on the border but boy of boy are they putting fences up fast in Lahaina .

HOW MANY DEAD

After 2 weeks still around 1000 missing.   Assuming those are all residents thats about 8% of the town

Why not publish a list of Missing Persons on major newspapers and let people know they have been reported missing and soon will be presumed dead unless they contact whomever they designate to handle this.   Another idea is to have people register online for Biden’s $700 and check the names against the missing person list

Maybe because they don’t want the true death toll to be known.  Its preferable to just say missing.

While some Lahaina residents may have been traveling and are not reachable most of them are on West Maui and many still don’t have internet access unless they can hook up with 1 of 6 Star Links. What is this Ukraine, has Maui been attacked by Russia ? Whats the delay here?

Lahaina Fire of 1919

Curiously this also occurred during a Pandemic and there were issues delivering water to the fire.  Allegedly this was caused by arson.  It also resulted in major upgrades to the fire department. History repeats

“By far the disastrous conflagration in the history of Maui, was that which started about 11:30 o’clock last Saturday night in the business center of Lahaina, and before it was finally checked had destroyed more than 30 separate buildings and had caused a loss aggregating between $125,000 and $150,000.” (Maui News – January 10, 1919)

The Lāhainā fire was not only started by burglars, who broke into the Sing Lung fruit store, stole a number of watches and about $8 in coin, but that the crime was committed by members of the gang of young bandits who robbed the Len Wai Co., store and planned to rob the Lāhainā bank.

“Partial confession has been secured from a number of boys more or less directly implicated, and the circumstantial evidence is all but conclusive against two of the gang.” (Maui News, January 17, 1919)

“Fire hose from the court house was carried to the scene within a reasonable time, but a reducing coupling was missing It could not be attached to the fire hydrant. It developed that this coupling had been left at the scene of the fire which destroyed cottage at the Lahaina hospital at the time of the big wing storm, several weeks ago.”

“By the time it was found and brought to the scene the blaze had communicated to buildings on either side and the heat was so great that it was impossible to pass In front of them along the street.” (Maui News – January 10, 1919)

The fire, considered one of the worse in the history of Maui to that date, was the catalyst for important improvements to Maui urban life.

The following month, the County Board of Supervisors approved and funded the start of a fire department for Lāhainā. BO Wist was elected as the first fire chief and given the job of organizing a volunteer fire company. The Board went on to approve the purchase of two fire trucks – one for Lāhainā and one for Wailuku.

Because of the fire, the Lāhainā townspeople asked that the County install a large water main for fire purposes in the center of town as well as proper fire hydrants.”

“The Board instructed the county attorney and the county engineer to “collaborate in drawing up of fire ordinances for both Lahaina and Wailuku, fixing fire limits, and prescribing the class of buildings and equipment that may be maintained in the thickly built parts of town.”

Within a short time after the fire started the leading Japanese of Lāhainā had formed a relief organization for the benefit of those who had suffered loss from the fire.

The first work of this organization was supply food and drink to the hundreds who were engaged in fighting the fire. Later, it took up the matter of helping those sufferers of the fire.

https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/the-great-lahaina-fire-of-1919/

End