Maui’s top emergency management official resigned Thursday, one day after he defended his decision not to sound warning sirens as wildfires swept across the island. The resignation of Herman Andaya, administrator of the county’s emergency management agency, was effective immediately, a county spokesperson said. A wildfire devastated the historic West Maui town of Lahaina on… Continue reading Maui’s top emergency official is out after failing to sound sirens as fires approached
Tag: sirens
Maui’s emergency management director repeatedly downplayed sirens, records show
Maui’s embattled emergency management director had a pattern of downplaying the importance of the island’s outdoor emergency siren system in the years before this month’s devastating fire that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina and killed more than 100 people, public safety meeting records show. In meetings in 2019, 2020 and 2021, Herman Andaya, administrator… Continue reading Maui’s emergency management director repeatedly downplayed sirens, records show
California town that lost 85 to wildfire installs sirens. Maui officials failed to use theirs.
“If that fire would have happened just a few hours earlier than what it did, we would have had hundreds of people die from that because they’d have been in bed,” Bolin said. The new sirens, similar to a tsunami warning system, are being incorporated into the city’s emergency services, which include mass cell notifications,… Continue reading California town that lost 85 to wildfire installs sirens. Maui officials failed to use theirs.
Hawaii’s emergency warning sirens weren’t activated to alert residents, agency says
The cause of the fires on Maui remains unclear, but severe drought conditions and hurricane-strength winds — gusts reached as high as 80 mph — are a confluence of extremes amplified by climate change, experts say. “It is much like an atomic bomb hit Lahaina,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt on Friday.… Continue reading Hawaii’s emergency warning sirens weren’t activated to alert residents, agency says