Hawaii wildfires: LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Maui neighbors who fled on foot from encroaching flames questioned why Hawaii’s famed emergency warning system failed to notify them as wildfires raced toward their houses.
Officials stated Thursday that there is no evidence that warning sirens were activated prior to the devastating fires that killed at least 55 people and destroyed a historic village in Hawaii.
The fire is already the state’s deadliest natural disaster since a 1960 tsunami on the Big Island killed 61 people. Gov. Josh Green has cautioned that the death toll is expected to grow as search and rescue efforts continue.
Hawaii has the world’s biggest integrated outdoor all-hazard public safety warning system, with around 400 sirens strategically placed across the island chain to notify residents of various natural disasters and other threats. In interviews at evacuation centers, many Lahaina survivors reported they didn’t hear any sirens and only knew they were in danger when they saw flames or heard explosions nearby.
Thomas Leonard, a former mailman from Lahaina, didn’t realize there was a fire until he smelled smoke. Power and cell phone service had both gone out earlier that day, leaving the population in the dark about the danger.
