World Weekly | Hawaii Fire Maui | Fire | Weekly
The recent fire that occurred on Maui Island in Hawaii has attracted global attention, and through satellite images, we can see that the once beautiful town has turned into a scorched earth. As more and more details are revealed, the outside world is increasingly questioning whether this unprecedented fire is not just a natural disaster, but perhaps even a man-made one.
Maui Island is the second largest island in the Hawaiian Archipelago, and La Haina is a small town on Maui Island. For a long time, this small town, backed by mountains and facing the sea, has attracted a large number of tourists with sunshine and beaches.
However, almost all of this beauty was reduced to ashes in the deadly fire on August 8th.
This is an aerial photo of the small town of La Haina after the fire.
The latest data shows that the Hawaiian wildfire has resulted in at least 111 deaths and thousands of people missing, with about 60% of the affected areas still not being searched and rescued.
This wildfire has become the most severe fire in the United States for over a century.
At 22:47 local time on August 7th, a surveillance video captured this moment near the forest in La Haina.
A flash of light streaked into the forest, which is considered the initial ignition point of the fire.
Witness Prible: The wind was strong, and then a flash of light flashed through. I think it's possible that a branch fell on a power line, causing the forest to catch fire.
What is this light? The head of the climate and energy policy program at Stanford University, Walla, said that there were no lightning strikes in the area before the wildfire occurred. Researchers speculate that the true source of the fire is the electrical wires.
Marshall, CEO of Wisk Laboratories: We also saw videos of explosions, and we installed 10 sensors in the community, and the voltage of these sensors dropped sharply at the same time.
It is worth mentioning the weather conditions at that time. According to the National Weather Service of the United States, Hurricane Dora was crossing the Pacific Ocean with wind speeds of over 70 kilometers per hour before and after the fire, and strong winds were seen as the "fuel" for the Maui Island fire.
Wesker Laboratories is a private company in the local area that monitors the power grid through sensor networks.
During the period from 0:00 on August 7th to 5:00 on August 8th, the company's monitoring data showed that there were a total of 34 major power accidents in the power lines around La Haina.
At around 5am on August 8th, local residents captured a footage that seemed to further confirm the speculation that the power lines were damaged and caused a fire.
Local resident: Damn it, the wire is broken. The broken wire is starting to catch fire, right on the other side of the road, still burning.
The resident immediately reported the fire to the police upon discovering it. Three hours later, the local fire department announced that the fire had been brought under control.
However, just a few hours later, a larger scale fire quickly spread under strong winds.
Many people choose to drive away.
Local resident: It's now 4 pm here, thick smoke is rolling, and my face is covered in gray.
Someone is praying for safety in the car.
For a moment, the road was in chaos.
Local residents: You can feel the traffic chaos
Some even started leaving their last words.
Local resident: If I can't escape, remember that I love all of you.
Black smoke billowed, with strong winds and flames, many people were forced to jump into the surging seawater to escape.
Local resident: We are in the sea, it's really scary.
At that time, 19-year-old Tomkinson jumped into the sea with his mother and 13-year-old brother to survive. They soaked in the sea for about several hours.
Someone attempted to return to the ground but was burned on both feet by the scorching surface.
Local resident: I can't cross the road at all because the ground is too hot. Now I have a second degree burn on the soles of my feet.
The rocks by the seaside were filled with people, and in the thick smoke, the waves beat against them time and time again.
That night, a nighttime drone captured such terrifying footage that the entire La Haina had turned into a sea of flames.
Many people didn't have time to escape and were trapped in cars and houses, burning to death.
Witness: Someone saw a family crowded together and said they looked like Pompeii, they were just calcified and time had solidified. Because the school was on vacation that day, many children were left at home due to the strong wind.
200 years ago, La Haina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii and is now a National Historic Site in the United States.
However, according to the Pacific Disaster Center at the University of Hawaii, the fire burned down over 2000 buildings, with an estimated reconstruction cost of $5.5 billion, and many ancient buildings were also reduced to ashes.
Hawaii has many wooden utility poles that are very old and surrounded by lush vegetation. Local residents and energy experts have been calling on power companies to strengthen the power grid and bury more wires underground, but the power sector has been slow to take action.
Lawyer Singleton: Based on what we have seen and heard, my confirmation is that the Maui government and the Attorney General of Hawaii have reason to investigate whether there was a negligent crime in this incident. If so, I hope they can further hold them accountable.
According to The New York Times, many wildfires in the United States are caused by utility utility companies or other businesses having utility poles blown down or foreign objects falling on the wires, causing high-energy flashes in the wires.
However, although there were already hurricane warnings before the Hawaii wildfire, the local power company did not take any "power outage" measures.
Hawaiian Electric CEO Kimura: This may cause inconvenience to customers who have a need to use medical devices. The La Haina water pump is driven by electricity, which is also a key requirement.
In fact, this power company is not unprepared for a fire.
As early as 2018, a wildfire broke out on Maui Island due to a falling power line, burning down about 2000 acres of land and devouring more than 20 houses. This was the largest fire on Maui Island at the time.
In 2019, Hawaiian Power Company announced that it would use unmanned aerial vehicles to help assess the fire hazard level in the drought prone areas of western Maui Island, and planned to upgrade various equipment to prevent wildfires from occurring.
In 2022, the company applied for approximately $190 million in funding from the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission to improve its statewide power grid. At that time, the company stated that the risk of wildfires from public power grids was high, and this funding was used to ensure that power facilities did not become the "source of wildfires.".
Although the application was ultimately approved, Hawaiian Electric did not take any practical action.
Their own documents state that they know how to prevent fires from happening, and their own documents show that they have made thoughtful decisions, but have postponed the implementation of safety measures that could have prevented this tragedy—— Local lawyer Watts
After the fire broke out, the company's stock price plummeted by 50%.
After the fire, in addition to being criticized by the power sector, local residents also accused the government of insufficient warning.
Local hotel owner Kahura: I don't know, until the huge black mushroom cloud keeps piling up and getting bigger.
Kahura runs a hotel locally. She stated that she did not receive any warning until she saw the fire sweeping in.
Local hotel owner Kahula: No, nothing.
Hawaii once claimed to have the world's largest outdoor connected public safety warning system, with 400 high decibel alarms deployed throughout Hawaii to alert the public to respond to disasters.
Among them, Maoi Island has 80 alarms, but in this wildfire, all 80 alarms became mute and did not issue any warning.
After the fire, many protesters held up signs reading "Why there was no warning" and demonstrated in front of the government building.
Director of the Hawaii Maui Emergency Management Agency, Andaya: As I mentioned before, alerts are used for tsunami warnings. Once it rings, people may run into the fire. So even if you sound the alarm, you can't save those people down the mountain.
The next day after Andaya finished speaking, she resigned from the position of Director of the Emergency Management Bureau due to health reasons.
In fact, external doubts go far beyond just warning failure.
Why is this big fire so fierce and spreading so quickly?
As early as four days before the fire, on August 4th, the National Weather Service of the United States pointed out that while Hurricane Dora was raging in southern Hawaii, the strong high-pressure system in the north continued, and the combined force of the two forces produced "extremely destructive winds". In addition, prolonged drought can easily lead to dangerous fire weather conditions.
According to Nature magazine, from the end of 2022 to the beginning of 2023, the Pacific experienced the La Ni ñ a phenomenon, with a very humid rainy season. The rainfall on Maui Island is 90% to 120% of the normal value, leading to vigorous growth of grass and providing a large amount of flammable materials for fires. The houses on the island are mostly made of wooden structures, which are difficult to extinguish once caught fire, leading to the continuous ignition of building debris.
Local firefighter: I really hope we can do more.
Firefighters in Lahaina town said that after the fire broke out, when they wanted to put out the fire, they found that the water pressure of the fire hydrant was too low, making it almost impossible to extinguish the fire.
Firefighter: We don't have water.
Firefighter: Yes, it's very frustrating.
In the eyes of many people, the reason for the low water pressure of fire hydrants may also be related to a "water restriction order".
On June 30, 2022, due to severe drought and water resource depletion, the local court issued a "water restriction order" to implement mandatory water restriction measures for residents of West Maui Island. Residents in these areas who use water for non essential activities, including watering lawns or cleaning vehicles, may be fined $500 and their water meters may be removed.
After the fire broke out, the water restriction order greatly delayed the firefighting time, and it was not until a few days after the fire occurred that the judge announced a 48 hour suspension of the water restriction order.
Due to untimely rescue efforts, some volunteers who initially participated in the firefighting could only use bottled water to water and cool down the area where the open fire had just appeared.
Due to the smoldering ashes everywhere, one can accidentally burn to the feet.
Volunteer: I want to go and see what's going on with the fire over there, but the sole of my shoe has been burned and I can't go there.
Hotel owner Kahura believes that the government is not only unprepared for the fire, but also has a very poor post disaster response. They did not receive any rescue supplies for more than two days after the fire broke out.
On August 16th, the White House announced that US President Biden will travel to Hawaii to inspect the disaster situation before the 21st.
At this point, it has been 8 days since the fire broke out.
The response of the Biden administration to the fire is also known as a "second disaster".
On August 8th, when Maui Island was engulfed by a fire and people were desperate to escape, US President Biden remained silent on this century long fire.
On August 13th, Biden, who had just finished sunbathing on the beach, was asked by reporters about his response to the rising death toll from the Maui Island fire. However, he smiled and "declined to comment.".
Biden: No comments.
Biden's indifferent words and actions provide excellent attacking materials for his competitor, former US President Trump.
Former US President Trump: It's okay not to comment, but at the same time, he laughed, especially in the face of such a tragedy. This is absolutely terrifying and unacceptable.
Some analysts believe that in the face of this unprecedented tragedy, Biden's frivolous answer, if it were from his original intention, would be somewhat indifferent; If it is a slip of the tongue, it inadvertently reinforces the doubt of being incompetent.
Former US President Trump: Joe Biden refuses to help or comment on the tragedy of Maui Island. Just like how he refused to help or comment on the train derailment in Ohio and East Palestine for a long, long period of time, this is shameful.
On August 15th, Biden made a joke about the Hawaiian fire while giving a speech explaining his economic policies.
US President Biden: I'm sorry because I worked hard to keep my speech between 15 and 18 minutes, but I have to talk about Hawaii.
However, just as Biden was trying to show his utmost concern for the Hawaiian fire, he was suspected of confusing Hawaii and Maui.
US President Biden: Military helicopters have been involved in the firefighting work on "Oshima" as multiple flames on the island have not yet been extinguished.
According to The New York Post, Hawaii Island is the largest island in the Hawaiian Islands and is often referred to as the "Big Island". The Maui Island where the fire occurred is a neighboring island of Hawaii, with a smaller area.
In this speech, Biden also announced that he will provide economic assistance to the affected people.
US President Biden: The Federal Emergency Management Agency also authorizes a one-time payment of $700 to each displaced household so that they can immediately respond to emergency situations, such as purchasing urgently needed medication.
This statement sparked even greater dissatisfaction.
People have found that just two days after the Hawaiian wildfire, Biden applied to Congress for another $24 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
After the fire broke out, US Vice President Harris claimed that she and Biden did not go to Hawaii because they "did not want to distract rescue attention.".
Vice President Harris of the United States: We don't want to distract the attention of rescue efforts. The first person to respond must be able to focus on disaster relief, rather than paying attention to our presence or absence.
On August 15th, the X account of White House Press Secretary Pierre also released a "confusing message": "When I ran for president, I made a promise that no part of this country would be left behind."
This passage is obviously aimed at the Hawaiian fire, but American netizens are puzzled. When did she run for president?
Sure enough, after more than 20 minutes, this sentence was deleted.
Some netizens believe that Pierre logged into the wrong account, which led to such an error.
"I'm laughing to death. The White House employee forgot to switch accounts."
And there are also netizens who
