Lahaina Wildfire Maui: Experience Hawaii's Largest Fire Show

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The discussion highlights the tragic loss of life in Lahaina due to a devastating fire, exacerbated by failures in the emergency notification system. A power outage prior to the fire resulted in the loss of cell phone coverage, hindering timely alerts. Although Hawaii has a robust emergency notification infrastructure, primarily designed for tsunamis, the sirens were not activated for this fire emergency. Cell phone alerts were sent out too late, leaving many residents unaware of the rapidly spreading flames and unable to escape. The situation underscores the critical need for effective emergency response systems capable of addressing various types of disasters.
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Very sad, plus the tragic loss of life. I was just there with the family a few months ago.
 


 
I haven't verified all the details, but apparently a lot of the loss of life was due to a breakdown in the emergency notification system due to power outages and the loss of cell phone capability. Apparently power was lost in the afternoon before the fires were close to Lahaina, and that led to the loss of cell phone coverage (not battery backed?). Hawaii has an extensive emergency notification infrastructure including sirens spread across the islands, but those were mainly installed for tsunami warnings, and not for fire emergencies (which are very rare).

The cell phone alerts were sent out as soon as the fires approached Lahaina, but that happened too late since the power was out and cell phone infrastructure was down. The siren notification network was never activated, unfortunately. It looks like a lot of the dead folks were caught unaware by the quickly spreading fire as it hit the town, and they did not have time to escape north or south or west into the ocean. RIP.

https://www.ktvu.com/video/1262464
 
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