Guests and employees at Web2022 Maui Fire Department Annual Report; Contact Us. AFP via Getty Images. Hawaiis attorney general, Anne Lopez, said her office would conduct a comprehensive review of critical decision-making and standing policies leading up to, during and after the wildfires on Maui., In a statement, Hawaiian Electric said it was working with the state and county to determine what happened.. This may limit the populations ability to receive, understand and take expedient action during hazard events, the plan states. Helping families recover and continuing to identify victims is the immediate priority. The fires began burning early August 8, scorching thousands of acres and putting homes, businesses and 35,000 lives at risk on Maui, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said in a statement. With the harbor now cordoned off, it is difficult to discern how much of the slick remains, but the burned-out and sunken boats will take months to clear. According to sensor data, power in parts of Lahaina came back on briefly from 6:10 a.m. through 6:39 a.m. before going out again. None of the fires burning in Maui have been completely contained, officials said Thursday. Updrafts then carried the seeds to new locations, producing saplings and new fire risks in other parts of Maui. Please also read our Privacy Notice and Terms of Use, which became effective December 20, 2019. The air quality coming from Front Street with the winds is deeply toxic with asbestos, she said. Fast growing when it rains and drought resistant when lands are parched, such grasses are fueling wildfires across Hawaii, including the blaze that claimed at least 93 lives in Maui last week. Earlier this week several wildfires engulfed parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui, killing at least 96 people, burning more than 2,000 structures, and forcing people to flee into the ocean for safety. In Lahaina, much of which was destroyed during last weeks fire, invasive grasses cover the slopes above town, growing right up to the edge of housing areas. (Video: Reshma Kirpalani/The Washington Post), Reporting on Earths changing climate and the search for solutions, Power lines likely caused Mauis first reported fire, video and data show. Hawaiian Electric is not the first company to find itself in the spotlight after major wildfires. Acting Gov. power lines likely caused the first reported fire. Wildfires could become more frequent in the future as drought conditions become more frequent and more intense with climate change, it went on to say. As death toll from Maui fire reaches 93, authorities say effort to count the losses is just starting Its already the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Maui Many of those who fled became boxed in by fire, smoke, and road closures; some sheltered in place, whereas others sought refuge in the Pacific Ocean, clinging to docks, pilings, seawalls, and other infrastructure. You could taste it. As of Tuesday, 99 people had been confirmed dead in the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century, and crews have only searched 25 percent of burned neighborhoods. Fires burned across multiple Hawaiian islands these maps show where. A Coast Guard helicopter and boat nearing Lahaina after the fire. Maui While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Hawaii wildfires burn through Maui, killing at least 36 people. When a number of conifers were set ablaze in a fire on Maui in 2018, it caused their cones to explode, intensifying the blaze, Ms. Strohecker said. Whisker Labs seven sensors in Lahaina recorded that flash, too, showing two significant faults at 2:44 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. Something went wrong. There are ways that the authorities can limit this destructive cycle, tropical fire specialists emphasize. Right now, it is unclear what contaminants may be in the drinking water. Returning Lahaina residents struggle with housing issues after Claim: The August 2023 wildfires that devastated parts of the Hawaiian island of Maui were caused by a "direct energy weapon." Fears over the risks from such grasses have been climbing since plantations began declining in the 1990s, marking the end of an agricultural model that lured immigrant laborers from around the world, shaping Hawaii for nearly 200 years. Nearly 16 percent of Maui County was in a severe drought on Tuesday, an uptick from about 5 percent the week before, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Aug. 11, 2023 Maui's first reported fire likely caused by power lines, data shows Plummeting humidity. More than 100 Meet at Kula Marketplace or Kula Lodge (Call Kyle For days, the utility has faced scrutiny since The Post reported that, despite warnings, the company had not cut power in advance of the wind storm to avoid sparking wildfires. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). How a deadly combination of conditions triggered America's 5. Fast forward to 2023, and Mr. Trauernicht, a specialist in wildland fire science and management at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said the deadly Maui blaze has shown clearly how nonnative grasses many of them on former plantation lands that have been left substantially unmanaged by large corporate landowners can cause what might be an otherwise manageable fire to balloon in size. Fact-checking a bizarre claim that government direct Unlike fires on the mainland which are large and spread in forests, burning hundreds of thousands of acres in a given year in places like California those in Hawaii are typically small and ignite in grasslands. During the morning of August 9 the winds abated enough to allow firefighting crews, helicopters, and other resources to begin to make their way into Lahaina, where they found a grayed landscape of ruined buildings and burned-out vehicles. But we are used to fighting for and protecting what is ours, and we will.. Start Maui The grasses tend to grow quickly when it rains but become fuel for fires in the dry season. See it right there, he says, swinging the camera to a downed wire in now-charred grass, thats the power line that started it. The suits contend that the company was negligent in the operation and maintenance of its equipment. John P. Rafferty writes about Earth processes and the environment. Maui Officials try to determine a fires start by assessing video evidence and interviewing witnesses. newsletter. Its not just like a campfire smell. These meters would have detailed the power outages to Hawaiian Electric with quite a bit of spatial detail, Wara said. Fire weather watch was issued two days before wildfires began. Why Hawaii Is Scrutinizing Hawaiian Electric in the Maui Fire Things had started to look up for Maui after the COVID-19 shutdown that had doused its thriving tourist industry several years ago. Today, theres less rainfall in 90 percent of the state compared to a century ago, according to the state government. The deadly fire in hard-hit Lahaina is 85% contained, according to Maui County officials. Video recorded the night of Aug. 7 shows the first flames of the fire in Makawao, Hawaii. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Maui County officials said the wildfire that caused widespread damage in Lahaina was 80 percent contained as of Thursday morning local time. caused Tinder-dry grass. Not wildfires, read sticker text on a video shared Aug. 11 on Instagram. Maui 3. Indeed, the interval of June to August 2023 was a period of worsening drought on Maui and in other parts of Hawaii. Wildfires were once rare in Hawaii, largely ignited by volcanic eruptions and dry lightning strikes, but human activity in recent decades has made them more common and extreme. The good news is that Hurricane Dora has moved west, causing winds on Maui to die down. Maui She said there had been fires from electrical equipment in the past, but responders always put them out quickly. We have suffered a terrible disaster, Hawaii Gov. Road to Lahaina reopens. For many, heartache awaits The Hawaiian Islands do see wildfire from time to time, but the catastrophic Maui fires were spawned by a striking mix of factors, including climate change. Please enter a valid email and try again. August 17, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT. Whelton said officials need to go further with their do-not-drink advisory and tell residents to stop bathing with the water, too. It said the area also had the countys second-highest rate of households without a vehicle, almost 7 percent, which could make it harder for people to flee from a blaze. The number of deaths resulting from the fires on the island has risen to 80, according to a statement by Maui County on Friday. Gas stations and propane tanks exploded and boats caught fire in the harbor over the course of hours as the town burned, according to residents who escaped the flames. In addition, the replacement of native vegetation with crops over the last century has affected local climate conditions, primarily in accessible areas in several parts of the state of Hawaii, including near sections of coastline and in Mauis central valleythe sites of the islands wildfires. Children in particular need to keep away from rubble, officials warn, in part to avoid lead exposure. The entire town is being destroyed by an intense wildfire, forcing residents to sheek shelter in the ocean.Make no mistake, climate change is making scenes like this more frequent. As for West Maui, the report painted a picture of a demographic particularly vulnerable to the ravages of wildfires. Maui It has restored power to about 80 percent of customers who have been without it since last Tuesday, it said on Twitter. But five hours later, Mr Arconado said the same area had reignited. Heavy rains that fall across the Hawaiian islands can cause nonnative grasses to grow in some cases as much as six inches in a day. As tourism eclipsed the plantations in importance, the shift away from sugar cane and pineapple plantations allowed tropical grasslands to grow untended, bolstering what fire specialists call a grass-fire cycle. Aug. 11, 2023 3 AM PT. Earlier this week, residents said small airplanes traversed the coast warning people not to drink the water. These cookies do not store any personal information. fires Although Hurricane Dora is not expected to make landfall in Hawaii, its pushing strong winds that can, in turn, fuel wildfire blazes, according to the National Weather Service. The death toll from the wildfires burning through Hawaiis Maui island has risen to at least 55, officials said late Thursday night, as the number of missing remains unclear. The islands have long had arid stretches of lava fields and drier grasslands, with rainfall varying from one side of an island to the other. As the Upcountry conservation workers tried to save endangered birds last Monday night, the fire quickly spread across Kulas pastures, thick trees, dead branches and eucalyptus-flecked gulches. They stayed up all night chasing down flames that leaped from the reignited blaze onto lawns and shoveling dirt on them, Mike Agbayani and three others said in interviews. The bright light in the video was probably an arc flash, something that happens when a power line faults meaning it has come in contact with vegetation or another line, or gets knocked down, releasing power, usually through sparks, according to a Whisker Labs official and other experts. flammable nonnative grasses combined with hurricane-stoked winds, historical landmarks across the island were damaged, organizations are accepting donations to assist. We still need volunteers to put out hot spots with shovels, trucks, chainsaws, gloves, and fire extinguishers in Kula. Hulks of blackened cars are visible throughout the town. And thats a problem, wildfire and energy experts said, because it means lines that had been de-energized were all of a sudden potential new source of fire in the community, said Michael Wara, who directs the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University. At that exact moment, 10 sensors in Makawao, a small, rural town in the East Maui region of Upcountry where the Conservation Center is located recorded a significant incident in Hawaiian Electrics grid, according to data from Whisker Labs, a company that uses an advanced sensor network to monitor grids across the United States. Dani Anguiano, Helen Sullivan and agencies. This is strong confirmation based on real data that utility grid faults were likely the ignition source for multiple wildfires on Maui, said Bob Marshall, the founder and CEO of Whisker Labs, which has 78 sensors across Maui, part of a robust network of hundreds of thousands monitoring grids across the United States. Varieties like guinea grass, molasses grass and buffel grass which originated in Africa and were introduced to Hawaii as livestock forage now occupy nearly a quarter of Hawaiis landmass. Heavy gusts can knock down trees near roads, blocking access to certain regions, and can also ground helicopters that dump water to quell the blaze. Maui Reading time: 4 minutes. Six dead, dozens injured in Hawaiian blazes as it happened Drought. Hawaii wildfires: how did the deadly Maui fire start and what caused it? (Thats partly why the Canada wildfires have been so severe this year, too.). Maui Latest Videos 17 videos. As the fire grew, it became so intense that it melted pipes delivering water to Lahainas residences, which reduced the towns overall water pressure and thus inhibited the fire departments ability to contain the wildfire. A charred boat lies on the scorched waterfront after a wildfire devastated the Maui city of Lahaina, 9 August 2023. A plume of smoke rising from burning sugar cane fields before harvest in Maui in 1970. 2023 Maui It adds to evidence that the states main utility equipment sparked multiple fires last week, when powerful winds predicted for days whipped through drought-stricken grasslands. Next rainfall, next storm potentially can wash it off to the ocean or actually impact the groundwater, depending on the location. The fires occurred at the height of Hawaiis dry season (which lasts from April to October). What we know about the wildfires in Hawaii, Take a mental break with the newest Vox crossword, Ecuadors kind-of-normal elections weeks after a political assassination, Why Hurricane Hilary is so strange and how it has impacted California, Why a progressives victory in Guatemala matters, Everything to know about the first Republican presidential debate. First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy, which makes it hard to plan ahead. August 12, 2023 at 9:47 a.m. EDT. Many organizations are accepting donations to assist those affected by the wildfires. Wildfires can also contaminate peoples drinking water, as overheated plastic pipes leach chemicals into a communitys water delivery system. Want to know how your actions can help make a difference for our planet? Fires burned across multiple Hawaiian islands these maps show where. Fire 01:18 - Source: CNN. Fact checking a bizarre claim that government direct - AllSides Seizing on data showing a spike this century in Hawaiis destructive fire activity, specialists in mitigating wildfire hazards had already been issuing warnings for years about Mauis growing vulnerability. Maui fire start 2023 Maui Earlier on Thursday, Maui County officials provided more details on the three different active fires in the area: the Lahaina, Pulehu, and Upcountry fires. Her family has been battling with Hawaiian Electric for at least 10 years over the condition of the infrastructure, which runs through a forest filled with highly flammable invasive grasses, she said. A large hurricane, drought, and perhaps even invasive grasses have fueled the devastating fires in Hawaii. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. How did the Maui fire start? A visual guide to the causes Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. pic.twitter.com/dttFnAwEeJ. the Maui Fires An aerial image taken on August 10, 2023 shows destroyed homes and buildings burned to the ground in Lahaina in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui, Hawaii. Introduced to Hawaii to feed livestock, the grasses have taken over old sugar and pineapple plantations. What to know about the Maui fires, damage and death toll - The As the Maui wildfires death toll climbs, here's what we know Vox's journalism is free so that everyone can understand our world. In Lahaina, much of which was destroyed during last weeks fire, invasive grasses cover the slopes above town, growing right up to the edge of housing areas. Impossibly fast winds that send showers of embers leaping from burned home to home, destroying whole blocks in a flash. Can I help? Hawaii also competes for federal wildfire grants with more than a dozen other Western states where huge fires generally receive greater attention; some officials have urged the state government to provide more of its own funding for the fight against invasive grasses. Hawaiian Electrics stock price has fallen around 68 percent since Aug. 7, the day before the wildfire started, to about $12 on Thursday. Part of the problem is that climate change is making Hawaii drier, so its more likely to ignite when theres an ignition event (most Hawaii wildfires are sparked by humans, though the source of the current blazes is unknown). A power line just went down, Treu said, spraying water from a garden hose in front of his home on Lahainaluna Road and lamenting that they had just got their power back on. Thu 10 Aug 2023 00.32 EDT First published on Wed 9 Aug 2023 08.35 EDT. Hawaiian Electrics stock price has fallen around 68 percent since Aug. 7, the day before the wildfire started, to about $12 on Thursday. power lines likely caused the first reported fire. Gavin Fujioka Deputy Fire Chief. fires Caused the Maui Fires A historic city of exposed wood structures in a thirsty rain shadow. Can I help? Maui fire start 2023 Hawaii wildfires - Wikipedia Some of it comes from the abandoned vans and cars, their wheels melted in puddles in the streets, as well as piles of twisted corrugated metal, scores of burned-out washing machines and melted weightlifting sets. The Lahaina fire caused about $3.2 billion in insured property losses, said an assessment Tuesday by Karen Clark & Company, a prominent disaster and risk modeling firm. Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter, in your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. Many of the homes and apartments, restaurants and bars, surf shops and art galleries that populated this historic Hawaiian community have burned down to their foundations. flammable nonnative grasses combined with hurricane-stoked winds, historical landmarks across the island were damaged, organizations are accepting donations to assist. Rating: Context: A book "Fire and Fury: The Story of the 2023 Maui Fire and its Implications for Climate Change" was published on Aug. 10, 2023, two days after the wildfires broke out in Maui, Hawaii. But there are some important differences between California and Hawaii. Any amount helps. Investigators are still scouring for clues as to what ignited the Maui blaze, which became the deadliest American wildfire in more than a century. The hazard mitigation plan prepared for Maui County in 2020 by Jamie Caplan Consulting, a Massachusetts-based firm that specializes in natural hazard mitigation, also warned that steadily warming temperatures were affecting Hawaiis vulnerability. Moreover, after fires ravage certain areas the nonnative grasses quickly sprout and spread, displacing native plants less adapted to wildfires, making the cycle more destructive. Marc Ramirez USA TODAY Officials are unsure what started the ongoing blazes in Maui that have killed six people, forced hundreds of evacuations, torched Native to the African savanna, guinea grass and fountain grass, for example, now cover a huge portion of Hawaii, and they provide fuel for wildfires, as Cynthia Wessendorf has written in Hawaii Business Magazine. The fire near Lahaina, a municipality of 12,702 people, began as a small brush fire just beyond the towns eastern outskirts in the early morning hours of August 8. The claim: An image shows a directed energy weapon beam that caused the Maui fires. Maui The fire had turned wild, Agbayani said. Firefighters sprayed water on a hot spot in Lahaina. How did the Maui fire start? What we know about the How did the fires start? 3:30 p.m. County officials close Lahaina Bypass because of a flare-up. State officials identified one of its power lines for setting off the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise. The wildfires burning today are also made worse by a powerful hurricane churning hundreds of miles offshore in the Pacific Ocean. In the aftermath of the wildfires, thousands of displaced Maui residents were taken to shelters and evacuation centres on the island, which included hotels abandoned by tourists who had been evacuated to other islands or to the U.S. mainland. And pointed out how much these extraordinarily hot fires resemble those at Paradise, California in November 2018, where entire homes were reduced to dust and nearby trees left standing and green. J. Edward Moreno is the 2023 David Carr fellow at The Times. Together with a warming, drying climate and year-round fire season, the group said, the nonnative grasses greatly increase the incidence of larger fires.. Investigations into the source of wildfires can take a few weeks to several months, according to Lee Frelich, director of the Center for Forest Ecology at the University of Minnesota. Security video shared by a bird sanctuary in Maui captured a flash of light around 11pm local time on 7 August, followed by a bright flame that continued to burn.
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