Errors that prevented escape routes from the Maui wildfire exposed
The worst wildfire in modern US history burned the town of Lahaina, leaving at least 99 people dead.
A BBC investigation uses first-hand testimony, police bodycam video, and recordings to show why it was so difficult to escape—and to expose errors made by the authorities.
It was nearly too late when she saw the smoke.
U'i Kahue was struck by a strong wind that toppled trees and ripped off roofs in her neighborhood. Then, like a dark cloud, she saw the smoke pouring in. The fire quickly spread into a raging conflagration.
In an attempt to prevent her home from catching fire, she reached for a hose.
"That's ridiculous now that I saying it out loud, but I'm trying to water the roof."
As a kumu, or instructor, of traditional Hawaiian crafts, U'i has a strong connection with Hawaii, the state where her family has resided for five generations, and the town of Lahaina in particular. Situated on Maui's northwest coast, it was once the seat of the Hawaiian Kingdom prior to the chain of islands becoming a US State in 1959.
And suddenly the whole thing was on fire.
At least 99 individuals had perished by the time the fire was extinguished, some of them were stuck in their automobiles attempting to escape. The Lahaina Bypass and the Honoapiʻilani Highway were the only two main roadways with exits, meaning that there were not many ways for people to flee in an emergency.
Some people chose to flee to the sea, which was the only area the fire could not reach, once it reached the beach and abandoned their automobiles.
However, when the fire broke out in her neighborhood that afternoon, U'i had no idea what was about to happen. She had no choice but to go.
Three of her neighbors stopped her as she was racing to her red minivan because they couldn't locate their vehicle keys.
"Enter," she commanded.
I planned to get out of town on the major route, which is Lahainaluna Road. However, the route was blocked when she finally arrived at the highway crossroads.
Rather, Front Street, which runs parallel to the seashore, was being directed by police, who said it had turned into a "parking lot" of backed-up automobiles. She could only drive ahead, one inch at a time, with flames on all sides of them and black smoke engulfing the headlight trail behind.
"I thought, 'Oh my god, we're not moving fast enough'," she said.
Roads were impassable that day for a variety of reasons. Several minor roads were inaccessible due to debris caused by strong winds.
There should be an emergency siren in the town, but it has never been used. At around the same time, when they could see the smoke pouring from surrounding rooftops, several individuals made the decision to flee themselves. This indicated that there was heavy traffic.
However, Maui Police also blocked other roadways, exacerbating the traffic jam. They claim that they took these actions to deter vehicles from entering the fire's path and to keep motorists from driving close to fallen power lines.
Chief of Police Pelletier said in August, "We want to make sure you avoid getting over a downed power line if you encounter a downed power line, that was live."
Richard Bissen, the mayor of Maui, acknowledged to the BBC that this had affected the local government's reaction. "We were telling everyone around the day to treat the power lines as if they were inspired," he said.
Since then, many have accused these blocked roads of contributing to the chaos that day and, ultimately, the death toll.
Photographer and surfer Travis Miller, who has been living on Maui for over five years, captured footage of the roadway being blocked by a police barricade at Keawe Street for many hours.
"As soon as I saw them seal the road, I knew it was insane," he said. reportedly were two lanes of open traffic, southbound, the fact that could have been used for people to go north."
Hawaiian Electric is sued by Maui County for negligent handling of wildfires.
Corpses, barricades, and looting: volunteers swarm to Lahaina after the fire
Lahaina families recount the destruction caused by the wildfire.
According to the police, all they were attempting to do was prevent electrocution. Was the electricity even on, though?
Not in Hawaiian Electric's opinion. The BBC has been informed by the local electrical provider that when a brush fire was initially identified that morning at 6:40 local time (16:40 GMT), the power was turned off. About 10:00 local time, according to the authorities, the fire was completely controlled, hours ahead of the afternoon inferno that was going to devour the town.
"The control room reported the Maui Police Department on numerous occasions during the day, starting in the morning as well as extending into the late afternoon, that the company's facilities in Lahaina were not energised," Hawaiian Electric said to the BBC.
Hawaiian Electric said that on the day of the fire, the police made eighteen calls to their "trouble center." It has provided the BBC with a taped version of one of these talks. during 16:11 local time, during the height of the evacuation, police recorded a question about whether the electricity was turned off near Lahainaluna Road.
An employee of Hawaiian Electric said, "It's all off."
Hawaiian Electric said that this video demonstrated that they informed law enforcement of the condition of the power lines, but they withheld any further recordings from the BBC.
However, Maui police had a totally different perspective.
"Without apparent and definitive confirmation that its downed power lines were not energised, Maui's law enforcement took reasonable precautions in order to avoid sending evacuees into hazardous electrified lines," the Maui police said.
The BBC cannot confirm if police had access to enough material to have made a different conclusion in the absence of further recordings. However, the BBC's acquisition of police bodycam video and witness testimonies have helped to clarify the muddled and disorganized scenario on the ground.
People were running out of time as the fire spread faster than anybody could have predicted. However, many found themselves shut off from escape when the major roadway out of town was closed up at the junction of Lahainaluna Road.
People were trying to escape the flames when police bodycam film, which was acquired via a Freedom of Information Act request, showed stopped traffic along Lahainaluna Road. In addition to the bodycam evidence, three other witnesses reported to the BBC that there was a traffic jam in both directions at this same location.
Police officers on the ground desperately attempted to rescue as many people as they could as others attempted to create escape routes in almost 20 hours of police bodycam video that was made available to the BBC.
However, several others were obviously perplexed as to why the highways had been closed.
"These automobiles need to be moved! On Lahainaluna Road, a police officer said, "Why are the cars not replacing?"
Maui police recently told the BBC that fallen power wires were the reason the crossing was blocked northward.
"Vehicles were failed to be sent north on Honoapiilani Highway ... .due to utility poles snapped at the base as well as leaning over the highway."
However, other cops voiced concerns when they learned that their colleagues had closed the route at that time.
"We need to go down there, due to the fact that they don't know what the [expletive] they're doing," stated one of them. Another cop said, "They don't understand."
When they arrived at this intersection, 19-year-old Noah Tomkinson, his mother, and his 13-year-old brother, Milo, were on the run.
They believed they had reached safety and that they would leave the town in a short while.
"Thank God," he said, appearing on video of his escape that his phone's camera had recorded.
Then his mom saw police vehicles. You can hear her remark, "The road's closed," seeming surprised.
After being led by the police into the town, they were caught in a traffic gridlock for about two hours. While his mother was filming the mayhem around him, Noah was trying desperately to find a way out.
They eventually decided to brave the flames by jumping into the water, where they encountered other people who had taken the same action. While the parents held their other two children, one dad spent hours holding a stranger's infant above the waves.
Together, they laughed in shock and tried not to weep as they saw their town, vehicles, and houses burn. Before firemen could eventually save them, an hour turned into six, and Noah and Milo embraced their mother to keep her warm.
Noah stated, "It was terrifying."
Survivors were left to pick up the rubble and count the dead when the flames eventually went out.
"Dead people on the ground and in their cars are present." People are like Pompeii; if the wind catches them, they go," Kekoa Lansford, a Front Street coconut vendor, said. He said that once the fire broke out, he drove about assisting others in getting away.
Unbeknownst to him at the time, he had just passed by the elderly brother of his grandmother, Joseph Lara, who unfortunately did not survive.
Like many others, Kekoa believes that some road closures by authorities added to the death toll.
"He was a good man who attempted to avoid a traffic jam but ended up getting caught in a fire." died," he said.
"What should have happening is the roads should have been open."
Mayor Bissen of Maui acknowledges that the community was unprepared for the fire. "Better preparation," he said when asked by the BBC what lesson might be drawn from the disaster. That's the point that everyone is making. Improved reaction."
And who ought to bear the blame for that lack of planning?
"Everyone needs to accept accountability. We all of us.
U'i was able to escape the town while carrying her passengers, sparing both her own life and the lives of the neighbors she picked up in her vehicle. She still feels burdened by the knowledge that others were not as fortunate.
"Every other house has anybody lost," she said. "I'm not a hero, did you comprehend how many people I passed evidently?"
Since her home burnt down, U'i has been living in a motel. To help her forget about the incident and the uncertainties surrounding her future, she teaches kids traditional crafts.
She acknowledges that road closures have resulted in fatalities, but she believes that when authorities chose to close the roads, they were not aware of the seriousness of the situation.
"I don't think people maliciously blocked the road so that people were able to ignite in their cars," she said.
"I just think that whoever on the other side of the fence or on the opposing side of the wall, was trying to do what they believe would be the best thing."
"Unfortunately, it may have been developed a mistake and a very costly one" .
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