State subpoenas Maui County agencies in fire investigation | News, Sports, Jobs

Black smoke chokes the skies above Lahaina on Aug. 8 as a wildfire burns across the town. The state Department of the Attorney General said Monday that it has subpoenaed multiple Maui County agencies in an attempt to get critical information for an investigation into the fires. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

The state Attorney General’s Office has subpoenaed three Maui County agencies to provide critical facts that it says are needed to push forward an investigation into the Aug. 8 wildfires on Maui.

The Maui Emergency Management Agency, the Maui County Department of Public Works and the Maui County Department of Water Supply have been served subpoenas, which the state said will allow the attorney general to collect information in a timely manner.

“We appreciate the cooperation of the Maui fire and police departments, and while we continue to work through some issues, their leaders and line responders have been transparent and cooperative,” Attorney General Anne Lopez said in a news release Monday.

UL’s Fire Safety Research Institute, selected by Lopez in August to look into the state and county’s response to the fires, is in the first stage of a three-phase investigation. Phase 1 is the fact-finding stage about how the fire unfolded. It was expected to take about three months, the Department of the Attorney General said on Aug. 31.

Lopez said Monday that the timeline for the release of the Phase 1 findings depends on the Fire Safety Research Institute gaining access to all facts.

“Until that happens, this critical process cannot move forward,” Lopez said.

After the facts are obtained for the institute to review, the Attorney General’s Office will announce a revised date for sharing the Phase 1 results with the public.

Maui County spokesperson Mahina Martin said Monday that the county “has cooperated fully with the investigation.”

“The County received 8 requests for information, totaling 80 specific items. 32 of those items have been completed and submitted and 20 items are pending, either due to processing or a response from the department that holds the records,” Martin said via email. “Additionally, 12 items require federal Department of Homeland Security clearance before they can be produced. The remaining items requested are either not under the custodianship or jurisdiction of the County, or are too general and are pending further clarification from the State and its contractor Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI). Over 90 interviews of County personnel have been completed so far.”

Martin said the county was supportive of the probe but faced a challenge in getting the information to investigators.

“We share in Attorney General Lopez’ commitment to keep our community safe and no one wants the truth more than those of us who live on Maui,” she said. “We also have the additional task of disaster response and recovery efforts and doing our best in meeting those needs as well. The outcome of the investigation will ultimately help us, our challenge is providing FSRI what they ask for and meeting their timeline of when they want it.”

Fueled by strong winds, the Aug. 8 wildfire destroyed most of Lahaina town, killing at least 100 people and causing more than $5.5 billion in damages, according to the state’s estimates. Multiples fires Upcountry on the same day also burned 19 homes and more than 1,000 acres and put much of Kula under an unsafe water advisory for months. The lengthy cleanup is ongoing in both Upcountry and West Maui.

Thousands of Lahaina residents remain displaced, spread out amongst Red Cross-run hotel shelters, the homes of family and friends or units provided by local homeowners through a statewide program.

In the wake of the fires, many raised concerns over the county’s response, questioning why emergency officials hadn’t activated the outdoor warning sirens to get people to evacuate as the fire rapidly overtook Lahaina town. Lawsuits quickly mounted against Hawaiian Electric — including one filed by Maui County — over its aging equipment and preparation for the high winds. Both HECO and the county have cast blame on each other.

On Aug. 31, the state announced that the Fire Safety Research Institute, a nonprofit research organization, would conduct an independent investigation. Since then, the team has been working within the impacted communities and has been scheduling time with local emergency services and federal, state and local organizations that responded to the wildfires and can share their firsthand perspectives, according to the news release from the Attorney General’s Office.

“We have conducted more than 100 conversations and viewed more than 1,000 personal videos and images shared by many of the residents affected by the wildfires,” said Steve Kerber, vice president and executive director of the Fire Safety Research Institute, which is dedicated to addressing the world’s unresolved fire safety risks and emerging dangers. “We are committed to investigating all of the facts and that requires accessing real-time information as the fire situation unfolded.”

The purpose of the independent investigation is to find the facts and develop new policies and procedures to save lives and property in the future, the Attorney General’s Office said.

Phase 2 will include an analysis of the data, determining how various fire protection systems functioned during the fire. This phase is expected to take about six months.

Phase 3 will cover best practices with additional data and recommendations for prevention in the future. Once this phase is finished, which the state estimated in August would be 12 months after the start of the investigation, a report of the findings and recommendations will be shared with the public.

* Managing Editor Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.

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