Lahaina fires caused by power lines, ATF report concludes – AsAmNews

by Yiming Fu, Report for America Corps member

Sparks that erupted as crews restored power to broken power lines caused fires last year, according to a report from the County of Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety (MFD) and the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). the Lahaina wildfires on August 8) was released on Wednesday.

The fire broke out at 6:34 a.m. on Lahainaluna Road when utility pole 25 sparked when it was turned back on. The sparks caught fire on uncultivated vegetation. The fire department responded to the morning phase before 9:00 a.m

Embers from the morning phase were rekindled at 2:52 p.m., marking an afternoon phase of the fire.

“We want to make it abundantly clear to the community that our firefighters went above and beyond the call of duty to be as certain as possible that the fire was fully extinguished before leaving the scene,” said Maui Deputy Fire Chief Jeffery Giesea.

The report classified the fire as an accident. The other categories are inflammatory, natural and indeterminate.

The wildfires are the deadliest in the United States in the last century. They claimed more than 102 lives, displaced 12,000 and destroyed 3,000 buildings, including Lahaina's historic waterfront. The cost of rebuilding Maui is estimated at $12 billion. Hawaiian Electric is part of a planned $4 billion settlement to compensate fire victims.

MFD and ATF conducted data collection, photo and video analysis, and witness interviews in the weeks following the fires and conducted follow-up visits months and a year after the fires to prepare their report. The origin and cause report can be found on the County of Maui website.

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