The head of Maui’s emergency services resigned Thursday after coming under fire for failing to alert the Hawaiian wildfires, the deadliest in more than a century in the United States.
Maui County confirmed the news on social media, alleging that Herman Andaya’s firing was due to health reasons, and assured that the person in charge will be replaced shortly.
During the fires, official warnings on television, radio and cell phones proved useless for many residents without electricity or internet connection.
Hawaii’s warning system, the world’s largest, did not go off, authorities admitted, and the sirens remained silent.
On Wednesday, Andaya had defended not using the warning system, arguing that, having been created in case of tsunamis, it could cause people to flee the coast, towards the flames.
The warning siren system was created after a tsunami that killed more than 150 people on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1946 and, according to the system’s website, can be used to warn of fires.
The death toll from the fires rose to 111, with most of the bodies so far found near the boardwalk or in the ocean as dozens of people jumped into the water to escape the flames.
On Wednesday, the governor of the archipelago, Josh Green, admitted that the balance could still increase considerably, at a time when hundreds of people are still missing.
Rescue teams, made up of first responders and sniffer dogs, have only finished searching for bodies in about 45% of the affected area in Lahaina, the historic capital of the island of Maui and one of Hawaii’s most popular tourist areas.
Hours before Herman Andaya’s resignation was announced, Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced an “impartial and independent” investigation into authorities’ response to the disaster, which could take several months.
Lahaina residents have also criticized a lack of water that has hampered firefighters and the inability to get out of town as vehicles quickly blocked roads.
The archipelago’s largest electricity distributor, Hawaiian Electric, was also accused of setting the fires, in a complaint filed by lawyers for those affected in Lahaina.
The lawsuit argues that Hawaiian Electric, which supplies electricity to 95% of the state, “inexcusably left its power lines operational during anticipated high fire risk conditions.”
The US president, Joe Biden, travels this Monday to the island of Maui to visit the area most affected by the fires, while the opposition criticizes his alleged weak response to the disaster.
Source: TSF
