On August 8th, an emergency declaration was signed. By August 9th, the Hawaii state government issued a state of emergency. By August 10th, Joe Biden, the president of the United States, issued a federal major disaster declaration. What caused all of this? In early August of 2023, a series of wind-driven wildfires broke out in Hawaii, primarily on the island of Maui, causing fast-moving destruction and damage throughout the state.
The wildfires have led to over a hundred deaths and an estimated six billion dollars in economic damages. With controversy surrounding every aspect of the wildfires and blame directed at the government and utility companies, the disaster lends us insight into the dangers that fires and a rapidly changing climate pose on our modern society.
In the early morning of August 8th, a fire was caused by Hawaii Electric, Hawaii’s most popular utility company. Within hours, firefighters declared the fire contained and left the scene, but only hours later, a second, more devastating wildfire broke out in Lahaina. Hawaii Electric claims that power lines had been inactive for hours prior to the second fire. Citizens are suing the company for leaving power lines active initially, and while the company acknowledges the incident, they claim the initial fire is unrelated to the devastating wildfires that occurred later that day. Despite the fact that the company and the larger Maui wildfires are supposedly unlinked, citizens add that Hawaiian Electric’s equipment was not built strong enough to withstand heavy winds and that there were many measures that could have been taken to prevent the disaster from worsening. Such measures included completely switching off power when high wind speeds threatened to damage electrical equipment.
Hurricane Dora, a Category 4 storm that raged across the Central Pacific, also potentially had an effect on the wildfires. Despite the storm remaining several hundred miles away from the island, some experts say that the winds propelled the wildfires across the state. The strong winds paired with a warming climate and dry vegetation created the perfect scenario for a wildfire to grow and spread.
How does a wildfire go from a small spark to a blazing inferno with a death toll of over a hundred, while also displacing thousands of residents and tourists? High speed winds pushed about by Hurricane Dora led the wildfires to spread at a blistering pace, moving at close to 60 mph. In the populated towns of Maui, this was devastating, as the fires were moving faster than one can drive on most roads. Furthermore, as many sought to evacuate the wildfires by car, major roadways were congested making escape from the raging inferno difficult or even impossible.
Another element adding to the calamity was the lack of a timely warning. The state of Hawaii possesses the most elaborate early warning system in the US that can be heard throughout each major island and town. But in the case of these wildfires, because the warning system was designed to alert the residents from tsunamis, county officials decided against sounding the alarm, thinking people would head toward the hills and mountains and directly into the flames. The decision turned out to be tragic — with no audible warning, people remained in their homes only to become aware of the raging inferno through the smoke and heat they could actually smell and feel. This delay resulted in many residents becoming aware of the fire too late.
The single most permanent effect of the wildfire was the many lives lost in the wildfires, both first responders and regular citizens. Many people perished in their cars, unable to evacuate in time. The Maui Wildfires took the lives of at least 115 people, making it the deadliest wildfire in the United States in over a century.
The wildfire's effects are most noticeable in the once beautiful tourist town of Lahaina which has now burned to the ground. Though it may seem that these setbacks are temporary and that it will only be a matter of time before Lahaina rebuilds, the Maui Wildfires has caused irreversible damage to local communities. Lee Akamichi, a studio art instructor born and raised in Lahaina, somberly notes: “So many of the things that added to my childhood memories are gone forever. The neighborhood I grew up in, the school I attended, the historic courthouse my father worked in and all of the landmarks that made Lahaina a place people from around the world visited are gone forever.”
The Maui Wildfires have greatly affected the island’s wildlife, destroying the beautiful forests and unique plants native to Maui. The tourism industry has also largely been shut down by the disaster, and community members are now deciding how the rebirth of Lahaina should proceed. The two schools of thought are: to design the town to be a new, modern tourist attraction or to rebuild with the guiding vision of trying to recapture the magic and beauty of what made Lahaina so historic and special but with contemporary safety standards. “My family hopes it will be the latter,” says Akamichi.