Strong winds on Tuesday intensified wildfires on Maui, turning them into fast-spreading wildfires. Surprisingly, local or state emergency agencies did not activate outdoor warning sirens.
The Hawaii Emergency Services Administration confirmed Friday, “Neither Maui nor HI-EMA activated warning sirens on Maui during the forest incident.”
Instead, residents relied on three other warning channels: mobile device alerts, local radio and television stations, and Maui County’s notification system for subscribing residents.
“Sirens are used to alert the public to seek additional information; they don’t necessarily indicate an evacuation,” emergency officials said.
Concerns are growing about the adequacy of warnings, especially as Hurricane Dora’s winds in the central Pacific Ocean caused power outages and hampered mobile communications.
Many believe emergency alerts were inadequate during the escalation of the crisis, leading to confusion in what is now being called one of Hawaii’s most catastrophic natural disasters.
“We were not warned. Nothing,” West Maui resident Lisa Panis said in a phone interview. “No siren, no alarms, nothing.”
There are an estimated 93 fatalities from the Maui disaster Sunday morning. Two victims’ identities have been confirmed due to DNA testing. Only three percent of the burned area has been covered so far by the authorities. It has already become the deadliest wildfire in modern US history.
A particularly unfortunate aspect of the Hawaiian tragedy is that many of the victims appear to be children. An anonymous source claiming to be a “whistleblower” gave his insight into local conditions.
“I just reported a whistleblower: What you’re not hearing from our local government: I just came out of a meeting where someone from the mayor’s office briefed me on developments that are being held in public . I’m not a conspiracy theorist and I don’t want to stir up trouble, but that’s what I’ve heard.”
“The number of fatalities is expected to be more than 500 but less than 1,000,” the source continued. “Many of the fatalities will be children who were at home because school was cancelled. The parents were working and were not there to evacuate the children. The children had no idea they had to leave and when they realized that the their houses or apartments were on fire, it was too late. The government is worried about how we will react when we know that the fire department left the fire earlier in the day and claimed it was 100% contained, knowing that it was expected winds to 70 mph in the afternoon.”
“This goes against all fire control protocols,” the source added. “The fire department should not have left the original fire unattended. They fear public calls for accountability will be more than they can control and protests and riots will occur. They plan to close Lahaina for several months. It will take months to clean up hazardous and environmental pollution. They won’t have enough housing for all the displaced people. This morning there were 2,000 people missing. They have a list they’re trying to track. Today they found 700. But there are still 1,300 missing.”
“They are very worried that the community will panic when they find out how not a single fire truck responded to the fires,” the source said. “The emergency sirens didn’t go off (hurricane sirens) and the loss of life could have been reduced with better emergency management that completely failed. I’m not trying to make waves or cause trouble, but I was so angry and sad when I found out how many children had died that I knew I had to post this and let everyone know what I learned. It’s time for our officials to stand up and tell the truth and face the music. They fail the boys of Lāhainā.”
“Our government is full of incompetent nepotism. The fire chief is the son of the former fire chief. We must hold officials accountable for the mistakes they have made. Please don’t hate the messenger. I’m just passing on what I learned today,” the source concluded. “God bless Maui and Lahaina! Please pray for all the victims.”
Trust in government has been so shattered that the Maui fire has given rise to elaborate conspiracy theories. A popular theory is that an “energy weapon” used to control the weather had started the fire. The stated reason was allegedly to promote the “smart cities” agenda, which is attributed to the World Economic Forum.
The fires on Maui were set off by a direct energy weapon to turn the island into a 15-minute, all-electric, AI-governed city. pic.twitter.com/6keaqQUe33
— AlphaFo𝕏 (@Alphafox78) August 13, 2023
There were more upsets after the fire because of its unusual burn pattern.
Since the ignorant sheeple want to calculate a move to shut me up about this, I think I’ll triple down
If you can’t see it, it’s because you’re not looking pic.twitter.com/y1zFMrk3Ip
— The Punisher (@PunishDem1776) August 12, 2023
A woman who claimed to be a survivor of the Hawaii fire said it was “not a natural disaster” and raised questions about how the fire started.
The island of Maui, survivor of the Hawaii fire and first-hand witness speaks;
“This was not a natural disaster” #Hawaii #hawaiifires #Maui #MauiFires #Lahaina pic.twitter.com/0CCdAVhbcy
— Ivan (@Ivankalema01) August 13, 2023
There seems to be no substantive evidence to support such elaborate theories; however, there are some disturbing “coincidences”.
Four months ago, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison acquired nearly 98 percent of the 141-square-mile Hawaiian island of Lanai, buying it from billionaire David Murdock for an undisclosed sum, rumored to be around 500 million dollars. Ellison’s holdings on the island include two resorts, golf courses, numerous commercial and residential properties and extensive undeveloped land formerly used for pineapple cultivation.
The island’s 3,000 residents are unsure of Ellison’s intentions for Lanai. However, in a recent interview on CNBC’s “Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo,” Ellison revealed his vision for transforming the island into an ecological haven, emphasizing electric vehicles, organic farming and solar power.
“What we’re going to do is turn Lanai into a sustainable business model,” Ellison, one of the world’s richest men, told Maria Bartiromo. “I own the water company, I have the electricity. The electricity company will be all solar photovoltaic and solar thermal where it can turn sea water into fresh water.”
However, Ellison’s vision goes beyond powering the island with solar energy and using solar thermal for desalination to generate fresh water. It also intends to introduce organic farming.
“We have drip irrigation where we will have organic farms all over the island. Hopefully we will export products, really the best organic products to Japan and other places. We are going to support local people and help them start these businesses. We will have electric cars. So it will be a small, if you will, laboratory of sustainability in small-scale businesses.”
So Ellison introduced the concept of turning Lanai into an “ecological laboratory” with electric cars, solar power and organic farming. But local residents complain that Ellison did not engage with the island community, communicate his intentions, address potential concerns or collect feedback. Ellison has also been accused of wanting to turn the 90,000-acre island into a “playground for the super-rich.”
The Real Deal reported: “Ellison owns the island’s main grocery store, the only gas station, the community newspaper and the only non-Four Seasons hotel. His development plans are usually secret. Many residents have heard that he plans to make the island ‘sustainable’, but not how.”
“Residents say no other entity can balance Ellison’s control, meaning its decisions carry the weight of the law, with minimal discussion of new projects and almost no due process,” the report added.
There are also serious questions about the government’s response to the bushfire.
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency confirmed that no sirens linked to Maui’s emergency alert system were activated that day. Adam Weintraub, a spokesman for the department, explained that the system, which includes 80 sirens on Maui, is designed to motivate people to seek detailed emergency information, such as online, television or radio broadcasts.
“The siren is a message, but it’s not a very specific message, and so every time we sound them, there’s a balance in the decision,” Weintraub said. “Will it do more good or more harm?”
“The best I can say is that given the speed and demands of the incident, I’m not concerned with the way Maui County handled it the way I know it now, but we can talk about it again once we’re done. ensure people are safe,” he added.
Describing the devastation, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green tried to deflect responsibility for the failure of the emergency response to NBC’s Lester Holt.
“It’s too early to tell,” Green said when asked if the siren system was not used due to human decision or equipment failure.
“Most of the equipment was destroyed by the fire and it is a very remote place. This was the western edge of the island of Maui,” Green said. “Of course, we would never diminish any responsibility. They were all fighting fires on the islands.”
In May, Hawaiian officials reported a suspected widespread house fire on the island of Maui.
“Fire and police suspect that someone is setting them up on purpose,” Maui Mayor Michael Victorino said.
On Friday, Attorney General Anne Lopez announced that her department would conduct a “comprehensive review” of “critical decision-making and standing policies” before, during and after the fires.
“The Department of the Attorney General shares the pain felt by everyone in Hawaii, and our hearts go out to all those affected by this tragedy,” Lopez said in a statement.
“My department is committed to understanding the decisions that were made before and during the wildfires and to sharing the results of this review with the public,” he added. “As we continue to support all aspects of the ongoing relief effort, now is the time to begin this understanding process.”
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