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Hawaii wildfires: Maui official says sirens could have posed danger in fire

Sirens primarily warn of tsunamis and could have sent people into the fire on higher ground, says emergency management chief

A man on a bike carries a cross in the northside of Lahaina, Hawaii. Photograph: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

Thu Aug 17 2023 - 06:24

Using public sirens to warn Lahaina residents about last week’s fire could have sent some people fleeing straight into the flames, the head of Maui’s emergency management agency said.

Survivors of the fire, which killed at least 110, have questioned why officials did not activate Hawaii’s system of outdoor warning sirens during the fire, which levelled the seaside town of 13,000.

However, Herman Andaya, the agency’s administrator, said the sirens primarily warn of tsunamis, prompting people to seek higher ground.

“If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire,” he told reporters during a press conference Wednesday. The fire started August 8th on the town’s northeastern edge – well uphill from Lahaina’s historic core – and was pushed downhill by ferocious winds.

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The sirens, he added, are almost entirely along the coast, not in the neighbourhoods that burned first. “Even if we sounded the siren, it would not have saved those people on the mountainside,” Mr Andaya said.

Instead, he said, the county pushed out alerts via texts, voice mails, television and radio.

Governor Josh Green said the state would examine many of its emergency practices in the wake of the fire, the deadliest known natural disaster in the state’s history. Mr Green agreed that most residents associate the sirens with dangerous waves, not flames.

“When I first moved to Hawaii, people told me, ‘If you hear a siren, it’s a tsunami – get to high ground,’” he said, speaking at the same press conference.

The fire’s death toll continued inching higher Wednesday, as search crews accompanied by cadaver dogs scoured the burned town and used DNA to identify human remains.

The police chief warned the dead would include children, although the only two victims publicly identified so far were both elderly Lahaina residents whose families had been notified before their names were released. Some 38 per cent of the burned area has been searched so far.

President Joe Biden plans to visit Hawaii Monday, after approving on Wednesday a request from the state to reimburse 100 per cent of many emergency-response costs.

Mr Green acknowledged the economic hit the disaster could pose to Maui, with the area around Lahaina particularly dependent on tourism. Hawaii as a whole has seen a decrease in visitors in the last week, the governor said, and he encouraged people to return.

“We’ve been through this before with other disasters, and we expect people to rally on behalf of the people of Hawaii,” Mr Green said. – Bloomberg

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