Maui is burning!

[Blitzkrieg]

Interesting and very sad.

Maui emergency chief resigns after criticism for response to deadly wildfire

Herman Andaya, embattled administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, has stepped down, County Mayor Richard Bissen announced.

www.usatoday.com

IMHO based on what I've read and heard the local government(s) in Hawaii failed miserably in this entire scenario. The Feds don't seem to be doing much better in the aftermath. smdh

 

[JimG]

IMHO based on what I've read and heard the local government(s) in Hawaii failed miserably in this entire scenario.

Was considered the lowest risk.
Seems none of them noticed the Marshall Fire from '21, Boulder CO. It showed how fast high winds can drive a fire. '
Just crazy!

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Was considered the lowest risk.
Seems none of them noticed the Marshall Fire from '21, Boulder CO. It showed how fast high winds can drive a fire. '
Just crazy!

A professor at the University of Hawaii had apparently been sounding a warning for the last several years that those fields were a tinder box.

Apparently there used to be pineapple fields there but now there is nothing there but a non native invasive grass that catches fire easily.

Couple that with failing to turn off the power during 60-70 mph winds, the failure of utilizing an early warning siren system and little to no emergency response plan/system to evacuate this area in a quick and orderly fashion because of limited ways out of town all made matters much worse.

 

[JimG]

but a non native invasive grass that catches fire easily.

AZ has a similar problem with something called Globe Chamomile. When dries & dies, it's just rapid fire fuel.
Doesn't look like HI had any of the SW style fire fighting gear/abilities. Not sure how effective any of it would have been in those winds.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

AZ has a similar problem with something called Globe Chamomile. When dries & dies, it's just rapid fire fuel.
Doesn't look like HI had any of the SW style fire fighting gear/abilities. Not sure how effective any of it would have been in those winds.

Tragic any way you cut it. smh

 

[FurmanCock]

So apparently additional water to fight the fires were initially withheld because of state water management policies:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/18/us/hawaii-diverting-water-delay-maui-fires/index.html

 

[kingofnerf]

How Did Viral Red-Roofed House Survive Hawaii Wildfires? Owner Explains

The images of the two-storey house in Hawaii were widely circulated on social media.

www.ndtv.com

"It's a 100% wood house so it's not like we fireproofed it or anything," Dora Atwater Millikin told the Los Angeles Times.

Ms Atwater Millikin and her husband Dudley recently renovated the 100-year-old house, which they have owned for three years, without thinking about the wildfires.

"We love old buildings, so we just wanted to honor the building. And we didn't change the building in any way - we just restored it," said Ms Atwater Millikin.

She said the one decision that helped the house escape a devastating fate was the couple's decision to replace the asphalt roof with one made out of heavy-gauge metal.

"During the fire, there were pieces of wood - 6, 12 inches long - that were on fire and just almost floating through the air with the wind and everything," Ms Atwater Millikin told the LA Times.

"They would hit people's roofs, and if it was an asphalt roof, it would catch on fire. And otherwise, they would fall off the roof and then ignite the foliage around the house," she added.

The foliage around the house was also cut down and stones added to the ground surrounding the property.

Finally, the red-roofed house was not too close to neighboring properties, instead shared border with the ocean, a road and an empty lot.

Very similar to the code that Caitlyn Jenner followed that allowed her house to come through a similar fire in California unscathed. Keeping the foliage trimmed and away from the house is part of the code in CA, but likely isn't enforced in most areas.

A review of the building code out there will certainly happen following this disaster.