Investigators: 'No evidence' Hawaii prepared for wildfire that killed 102, in spite of warnings

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez released a report on Friday that found a lack of evidence that Hawaiian officials prepared for a dangerous wildfire in Maui that killed 102 people last year, despite days of warning.

The 500-page report highlighted that multiple issues resulted in the high death count, including heavy winds from a hurricane that was south of the islands on Aug. 8, 2023. A forecaster with the National Weather Service had notified emergency services of the increased fire risks in the state on Aug. 4, but no further action to prepare for possible fires was taken, according to the Associated Press.

The lack of preparation from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Maui Fire Department, Maui Police and others, harmed evacuation efforts in towns like Lahaina. Actions that the departments can make in the future include scheduling extra staff on duty, placing emergency vehicles and supplies in high-risk areas, and plotting effective evacuation routes.

“This investigation serves as a wake-up call for the state and county governments to learn from the past and urgently prepare for the future,” Lopez said in a news release shared with Just The News.

The report was the second of a three-part evidence-based investigation into the state and local responses of the Maui wildfires, authorized by Lopez and being conducted by the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI).

“The wildfire preparedness, prevention and operational measures in place that day faced significant—sometimes unprecedented—challenges as the threat escalated," Steve Kerber, the vice president and executive director of FSRI, said in a statement. "Insufficient resources and investment across multiple domains hindered the development of a unified fire management strategy and impacted prevention, preparedness and response."

“The report concludes the devastation caused by the Lahaina fire cannot be connected to one specific organization, individual, action or event,” Kerber continued. “The conditions that made this tragedy possible were years in the making.”

The third and final report will focus on more broad systemic recommendations for avoiding additional fire disasters in the future, but it is not clear when that report will be released.

Misty Severi is an evening news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.