LOS ANGELES, 13 Aug. (DPA/EP) –
Hawaii’s attorney general has announced the launch of an investigation that will examine the overall response to the devastating wildfire on Maui, where at least 80 people have died and another 1,000 are still missing.
In a statement, Attorney General Anne Lopez has indicated that her office will review the key policies and decisions this week that influenced the response to the deadly hell.
“My department is committed to understanding the decisions that were made before and during the wildfires and to sharing the results of this review with the public,” Lopez said in a statement, adding that “as we continue to support all aspects of the ongoing relief effort, now is the time to begin this process of understanding.”
A wildfire broke out Tuesday morning, prompting evacuations in Lahaina, a historic town of about 13,000 people in West Maui, and although authorities declared it “100 percent contained” around 10 a.m. local time ) that day, the fire broke out around 3:30 p.m.
Fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora, the fire tore through homes in the upper area and moved toward the coast. As Lahaina burned, both ways out of the area were closed or blocked.
Some residents appear to have received warnings to evacuate, while others have not. Hawaii has a network of outdoor sirens, but neither the state nor the county activated them Tuesday, state Emergency Management Agency spokesman Adam Weintraub said.
Instead, officials issued wireless emergency alerts to mobile phones, alerts through a local emergency notification system, and radio and television alerts. However, with power outages and other damage to telecommunications infrastructure, many residents were left in the dark or moved too late to evacuate successfully.
Officials were well aware of the high risk of wildfires in the days leading up to the outbreak on Maui, as the National Weather Service warned last Friday of a “high fire danger” given the dry weather and “strong, gusty trade winds.” “.
