Things to know about about the deadly wildfire that destroyed the Maui town of Lahaina

HONOLULU — Hawaii officials have not prepared for dangerous fire conditions in the days before flames engulfed the historic Maui town of Lahaina despite warnings from meteorologists, the state’s attorney general said Friday.

The findings were detailed in a 518-page report prepared by the attorney general. Institute for Fire Safety Research. It is the second of a three-piece research aimed at understanding the tragedy and how best to prevent similar disasters in the future.

The August 8, 2023, wildfire was the deadliest wildfire in the US in more than a century.

This is what you need to know:

Many were unaware that the fire was threatening their coastal town. Strong winds caused power outages, leaving people without internet, television and radio. Mobile networks are downso people couldn’t exchange phone calls or text messages or receive emergency alerts. Police sent door-to-door alerts, but Maui County authorities failed to emergency sirens and tell the residents to flee.

Many decided to leave when they smelled smoke and saw flames, but they were soon stuck in traffic after police closed major routes to protect people from live power lines that had been knocked down by the high winds.

One family managed to escape by avoiding a bend block barricade Honoapiilani Highway, the main coastal road leading in and out of Lahaina. Some jumped into the ocean to escape the flames. Others died in their cars.

Maui police said 102 people have died. The victims ranged in age from 7 to 97, but more than two-thirds were in their 60s or older, according to Maui police. Two people are missing.

The toll exceeded that of the Campfire 2018 in Northern California, killing 85 people and destroying the town of Paradise. A century earlier, the 1918 Cloquet Fire burned through drought-stricken Northern Minnesota, destroying thousands of homes and killing hundreds.

The Maui Fire Department will issue a report on the origin and cause of the fire, which will include the results of an investigation led by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. A county spokesman said the fire department has not yet received the ATF’s findings.

Some questions were aimed at a small, wind fanned fire caused by downed power lines in the early morning of August 8. Firefighters declared the fire out, but it appears that the fire flared up again hours later and turned into a blaze.

A Associated Press investigation The answer may lie in an overgrown canyon beneath Hawaiian Electric Co.’s power lines and something that held smoldering remains of the original fire before it flared up again.

Hawaiian Electricity has acknowledged that the downed lines were the cause of the first fire but has argued in court papers that it could not be held responsible for the later flare-up because the lines had been shut off for hours when the fire rekindled and spread through the city. The utility has instead blamed Maui firefighters for what it considers their premature, false claim that they had extinguished the initial fire. The county denies that firefighters were negligent.

Thousands of Lahaina residents have sued various parties they believe are responsible for the fire, including Hawaiian Electric, Maui County and the state of Hawaii.

The plaintiffs and defendants reached an agreement $4 Billion Global Settlement last month. It is not final because some parties asked the Hawaii Supreme Court to determine how insurance companies can sue Hawaiian Electric and other companies to recover money they have already paid to their policyholders to settle insurance claims.

The fire left about 12,000 people homeless, most of whom were renters. The fire turned the housing market, which was already struggling with a severe housing shortage, upside down.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is helping 1,700 households pay rentIt builds modular homes for hundreds of others, working with the state and nonprofits.

Mayor of Maui has proposed legislation that would force owners of 7,000 holiday homes to rent to residents Free up housing for survivors. Some estimates say 1,500 households have left Maui because rents have skyrocketed.

The Army Corps of Engineers this month launched the clearing rubble of all 1,390 residential buildings that burned down. Reconstruction has begun on 20 lots.