Maui’s Wildfire Disaster: Media Pushes ‘Climate Crisis’ Cause, People Are Pushing Back
https://legalinsurrection.com/2023/08/mauis-wildfire-disaster-media-pushes-climate-crisis-cause-people-are-pushing-back/The death toll from the destructive wildfire that incinerated Maui’s historic town of Lahaina continues to rise as firefighters battle blazes on the Hawaiian island.
The raging wildfire that swept through the picturesque town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui this week has killed at least 93 people, authorities said early Sunday, making it the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii since it became a state in 1959.
…Maui County officials said early Sunday that firefighting crews are continuing to extinguish flare-ups in the Lahaina and Upcountry Maui fires.
In the Upcountry Maui fire, three structures in Olinda and 16 structures in Kula were destroyed. On Saturday, the Pulehu/Kīhei fire was declared 100%, which indicates what percentage of the fire perimeter has been enclosed by a control line and reflects opportunities for the fire to spread beyond its original border into new areas.
The news media says climate change caused the Hawaiian wildfire. Not so fast.
It turns out that nine years ago, a report by Hawaiian fire researchers sounded the alarm that the area was at extremely high risk of burning. Many key recommendations were ignored.
In 2014, a wildfire-protection plan for the area was written by the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, a nonprofit that works with government agencies. It warned that Lahaina was among Maui’s most fire-prone areas because of its proximity to parched grasslands, steep terrain and frequent winds.
The plan, which involved Maui and state officials, laid out a multitude of mitigation measures that needed to be undertaken to shield the area around Lahaina from fires. They included thinning vegetation near populated areas, improving wildfire-response capabilities and working with landowners and utilities to help reduce fire risk on their property.
Some of the recommendations from the 2014 plan, which was devised after more than a half-dozen community meetings, were implemented, like brush thinning efforts and public education for landowners, said the report’s lead author, Elizabeth Pickett. But others, such as ramping up emergency-response capacity, have been stymied by a lack of funding, logistical hurdles in rugged terrain and competing priorities, said Pickett, co-executive director of the wildfire nonprofit.
“We’ve been hammering this home, and it’s just really frustrating and heartbreaking to see that some things could have been done, but we couldn’t find money,” she said. “We are living through what happens when there’s a lag and everyone’s still catching up.”
Many people are suggesting that an arson investigation be conducted once the fires are under control, in light of the fact there were acts of arson all over Maui in 2022.
