Investigation Reveals Origin Of Maui Fire That Killed Over 100

The truth comes out…

A report confirmed the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century that claimed the lives of at least 102 people in Maui was the result of a reignition” of an earlier morning fire “caused by Hawaiian Electric equipment damaged by high winds.” 

Firefighters believed they had extinguished the earlier brushfire sparked by downed power lines, officials confirmed as they presented their findings on the cause. 

During the first week of June 2009, Sustainable Resource Alberta burned nearly 8,000 hectares of forest in Western Alberta, just east of the Saskatchewan River Crossing on the Icefields Parkway and Highway 11. The forest was destroyed to bring about greater diversity, stem the spread of mountain pine beetle and to create a fire barrier for any future wildfires. [Photo Credit: Cameron Strandberg from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada, CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

The August 8 fire started in the afternoon in the same area as a separate fire from earlier that morning. Driven by strong, chaotic winds, the fire quickly ripped through the historic town of Lahaina.

“We want to make abundantly clear to the community that our firefighters went above and beyond their due diligence to be as confident as they could be that the fire was completely extinguished before they left the scene,” Maui County Department of Fire and Public Safety Assistant Chief Jeffrey Giesea said during a press conference. 

The origin and cause report was done in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Honolulu Field Office, Seattle Field Division and its National Response Team, County of Maui officials said on their Facebook page. 

While wind was the most likely cause of the fire’s rekindling, the ATF’s report said investigators could not rule out another possibility that the operator of a bulldozer, trying to help firefighters contain the blaze, could have unwittingly pushed smoldering debris to the gully’s edge, only to have it erupt in flames hours later.

“The close proximity of the freshly cut firebreak to the western edge of the gully does not afford investigators the ability to rule out the possibility that while cutting the firebreak, the operator unknowingly moved still burning vegetation or smoldering debris into the gully,” the report said.

Bulldozers driven by volunteers and contractors are frequently used to protect towns and farms from wildfires across the western U.S., the Associated Press reports, though some groups have questioned their effectiveness in extreme weather conditions.

“We deeply regret that our operations contributed to the fire that ignited in the morning,” Hawaiian Electric’s statement reads. “We have looked closely at our protocols and actions that day and have made many changes in our operations and resilience strategies to ensure we fulfill our commitment to keep the public safe, especially in extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent and severe.”

Read the full origin and cause report of the fire here. 

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Nancy Butler

Nancy grew up in the South where her passion for politics first began. After getting her BA in journalism from Ole Miss she became an arts and culture writer for Athens Magazine where she enjoyed reporting on the eclectic music and art scene in Athens, GA.

However, her desire to report on issues and policies impacting everyday Americans won out and she packed her bags for Washington, DC. Now, she splits her time between the Nation’s Capital and Philadelphia where she covers the fast-paced environment of politics, business, and news.
In her off time, you can find Nancy exploring museums or enjoying brunch with friends.

4 Comments
    Ron Boutte

    This was not only planned, but committed to innocent people. This was not accidental. The published facts do not mention all the facts. They want to white wash a tragedy.

    Fred Harrison

    Like many fires in the West in past years, this one also smells of the use of directed energy weapons and geoengineering. We had a fire close to where I live a few years ago which ignited objects that shouldn’t easily ignite and meltied objects that shouldn’t easily melt, while passing by other objects that are quick to combust. We had holes punched through the canopies of green trees and trees which burned from the inside, but remained intact on the outside. Plotting the course of the progression of the fire on a map, it jumped over large barriers like a forty acre plowed field and a four lane divided road, and led to our local airport tower.

    MD Anthony

    Chief Jeffrey Giesea said during a press conference Quote ““We want to make abundantly clear to the community that our firefighters went above and beyond their due diligence to be as confident as they could be that the fire was completely extinguished before they left the scene,”

    The report contradicts and shows what Chief Giesea has claimed obviously did not happen.

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