Report finds 'no evidence' Hawaii officials prepared for wildfire that killed 102 despite warnings

HONOLULU (AP) — Investigators reviewing the emergency response to last year's wildfire that killed 102 people on Maui said in a report released Friday they found “no evidence” Hawaii officials made preparations for it, despite days of warnings that critical fire weather was coming.

That lack of planning hindered efforts to evacuate the historic town of Lahaina before it burned, the report said.

A forecaster with the National Weather Service emailed fire managers an “unprecedented advance warning” on Aug. 4, 2023, of the danger that would develop on Aug. 8, including extreme winds as a hurricane passed far to the south, according to the report released by the state attorney general.

But in the ensuing days, the report found, there is no evidence that key agencies — the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Maui Fire Department, Maui Police and others — developed plans for dealing with severe wildfire risk, such as by having extra staff on duty, stationing emergency vehicles or supplies in high-risk areas, or plotting possible evacuations.

“The strongly worded nature of the email, had it been communicated to fire managers in other states with better developed severity preparedness strategies, could have gained attention and prompted discussion and operational planning,” the report said. “It was a call for State of Hawaii fire managers to prepare for the impending extreme weather.”

The heroic efforts of firefighters and police — who risked their lives sprinting door to door to warn residents to leave — were undercut by the lack of planning as the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century destroyed thousands of buildings.

“This investigation serves as a wake-up call for the state and county governments to learn from the past and urgently prepare for the future,” Attorney General Anne Lopez said in a statement.

Maui's mayor said the report will help Maui respond to future disasters and save lives.

“The County remains committed to a transparent and thorough investigation that will help us identify and implement best practices,” Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency didn't immediately respond with comment.

Maui fire commanders discussed the forecast, but “no evidence of pre-event preparedness plans by the MFD were produced,” the report said. The police and fire departments never established a unified incident command post or action plan, and as a result it was more difficult to know who was responding to what, where to direct resources, or which evacuation routes were blocked by downed trees or power lines.

The departments share a mobile command vehicle, but the county did not provide evidence that it was used that day, the report said. Some emergency vehicles didn't have equipment for clearing roadblocks.

Hawaiian Electric Co. has acknowledged that its power lines caused a fire the morning of Aug. 8. Firefighters who responded believed they had extinguished it. But, the report notes, they had limited access to the area due to steep terrain and unstable power lines overhead, making it difficult to determine if the fire was truly out.

The fire that destroyed Lahaina later that day ignited in the same area. Maui County's report on the cause of the catastrophe has not been released.

With multiple fires burning on Maui that day, police focused on routine duties like traffic control rather than preparing for an evacuation, the report said. The police and fire departments operated separately, hindering communication as winds toppled utility poles, cutting power and cell service.

Maui County and the state use private contractors to help fight fires with water tankers and heavy equipment. But those contractors weren’t trained to use portable radios, and with cell service down many had to communicate with firefighters in person. Firefighters had to flag down water tankers to ask them to fight fires. Some hydrants failed as the fire melted water lines.

Maui Fire Department policy requires backup relief engines to be ready to respond to an emergency. But some lacked breathing equipment and portable radios, the report said. Personnel at fire stations spent valuable time locating and loading hoses, nozzles and hand tools.

And despite the warnings, the heads of the county emergency management agency and the Maui Fire Department were off-island that day, attending conferences in Honolulu. The report said no one appeared to be in charge of strategic resource allocation.

Some of the challenges facing officials and residents were particular to Hawaii and Maui: narrow roads clogged with parked cars and private dirt roads blocked by gates.

Many older, wooden homes were separated by less than 6 feet (1.8 meters), and residents frequently left windows open, making it easier for the fire to spread.

The 518-page report, conducted by the Fire Safety Research Institute, is the second part of a three-part attempt by officials to understand the tragedy and how best to avoid such disasters in the future.

The review determined that the lack of planning fit a long pattern of apathy to wildfire risk in Hawaii, where tsunamis and hurricanes are considered more pressing dangers, and it was among many factors that set the stage for the catastrophe.

Nationally, the report noted, people think of Hawaii as a tropical vacation destination, not fire-prone. Even among residents it may be difficult to get excited about wildfire risk when “red-flag weather” — hot, dry and windy — isn't much different from a typical summer day.

“This gap between risk perception and reality seems to have contributed to a relative underinvestment in wildfire prevention, preparedness and response capacity over the years,” the report said.

Even though a 2018 wildfire in West Maui near Lahaina burned 2,000 acres (810 hectares), destroyed 21 structures and forced 600 people into shelters, the Maui Police Department’s “Natural and Man-Made Disaster Plan” didn’t include wildfires. The Maui Fire Department has policies for responding to hurricanes but not high fire danger.

Maui County passed legislation in 2022 giving the fire department the authority to require property owners to clear vegetation, such as the dry invasive grasses that helped fuel the Aug. 8 fire, but the county “has not produced any evidence that the MFD has enforced these amendments in the Lahaina area,” according to the report.

It called for better vegetation management and fire breaks and recommended providing alternate means of firefighting water supply for extreme events, including portable pumps to draw from pools, ponds and the ocean.

The Maui Police Department should develop safe evacuation procedures, and the fire department should establish operating procedures for bad fire weather, the report said.

“Things need to change, and preparedness is where it starts,” Derek Alkonis, of the review team, told a news conference Friday.

Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska; Claire Rush in Portland, Oregon; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix; and Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico, contributed.

FILE - Photos of Sharlene Rabang, who was named as the 100th victim of the Lahaina wildfires after dying weeks after fleeing her home, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, are seen at her husband Weslee Chinen's family home in Waipahu, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

FILE - The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP, File)

FILE - Briena Mae Rabang, 10, holds the ashes of her great-grandmother Sharlene Rabang, who was named as the 100th victim of the Lahaina wildfire, while posing for a photo with her father Branden, left, and grandfather Brandon, right, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Kahului, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - A man reacts as he sits on the Lahaina historic banyan tree damaged by a wildfire on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, center, points to damage as he speaks with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell during a tour of wildfire damage, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Thomas Leonard lies on an air mattress at an evacuation center at the War Memorial Gymnasium after his Lahaina apartment was destroyed by wildfire, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Wailuku, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - JP Mayoga, right, a chef at the Westin Maui, Kaanapali, and his wife, Makalea Ahhee, hug on their balcony at the hotel and resort, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, near Lahaina, Hawaii. About 200 employees were living there with their families. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Rays of sunlight pierce through the clouds, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, above homes burned by wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Photos of victims are displayed under white crosses at a memorial for victims of the August 2023 wildfire, above the Lahaina Bypass highway, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - Rev. Ai Hironaka, resident minister of the Lahaina Hongwanji Mission, walks through the grounds of his temple and residence destroyed by wildfire, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - A general view shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — Lawyers representing 100 survivors and family members of victims of the deadliest shooting in Maine history have begun the formal process of suing the Army and an Army hospital for failing to act to stop the reservist responsible for the tragedy, attorneys announced Tuesday.

The individual notices of claim say the Army was aware of the reservist's mental health decline that left him paranoid, delusional and expressing homicidal ideations, producing a “hit list” of those he wanted to attack.

“It is difficult to conceive of a case in which Army personnel could have more warning signs and opportunities to intervene to prevent a service member from committing a mass shooting than what happened in the case of Army Reservist Robert Card,” lawyers wrote in their notices mailed Friday.

The notices of claim by four law firms are a required step in suing the federal government. The Army will have six months to determine whether to respond, after which a lawsuit may be filed.

Eighteen people were killed when the 40-year-old Card opened fire at two locations he'd frequented — a bowling alley and a cornhole league hosted by a bar and grill — on Oct. 25, 2023. Another 13 people were injured. Card was found dead two days later from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

An independent commission appointed by Maine's governor concluded that there were ample opportunities to intervene by both civilian law enforcement and the Army. For now, lawyers for victims and family and friends who suffered loss are focusing on the Army, and not a private hospital that treated Card or civilian law enforcement.

The Department of Defense, U.S. Army and Army Keller Hospital “broke its promises, failed to act reasonably, violated its own polices and procedures and disregarded directives and orders,” the claim said.

In September 2023, when Card threatened to “shoot up” an armory and his friend warned of "a mass shooting,” the Army failed to provide critical background about two doctors recommending that Card not have access to weapons when it requested that local law enforcement officers check on his well being. Card's commanding officer even downplayed the threat by undercutting the credibility of the soldier who issued the warning, and by declining to share all information at his disposal, the claims said.

Cynthia Young, whose husband William and 14-year-old son Aaron were killed at the bowling alley, said in a statement that pain and trauma never goes away. “As terrible as the shooting was it’s even more tragic that there were many opportunities to prevent this and they were not taken,” she added.

The filings said there may have been a time when mass shootings were so rare that they couldn’t be predicted but “that has not been true in America for decades.”

“Mass shootings, like what happened in Lewiston, are an epidemic in America. Consequently, those in positions of responsibility and authority are required to appreciate the warning signs and behaviors that telegraph the risk of mass violence, take them seriously, and act to prevent their occurrence," the claims said.

FILE - A man photographs a make-shift memorial at the base of the Lewiston sign at Veteran's Memorial Park, Oct. 29, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

FILE - A woman visits a makeshift memorial outside Sparetime Bowling Alley, the site of a mass shooting, Oct. 28, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)

FILE - Rain-soaked memorials for those who died in a mass shooting sit along the roadside by Schemengees Bar & Grille, Oct. 30, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)

FILE - Law enforcement personnel are staged in a school parking lot during a manhunt for Robert Card in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, Oct. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

FILE — In this image taken from New York State Police body camera video that was obtained by WMTW-TV 8 in Portland, Maine, New York State Police interview Army reservist Robert Card, the man responsible for Maine's deadliest mass shooting, at Camp Smith, in Cortlandt, N.Y., July 16, 2023. (WMTW-TV 8/New York State Police via AP, File)

FILE - Law enforcement gather outside Schemengee's Bar and Grille, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)