HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii officials didn't prepare for dangerous fire weather in the days before flames incinerated the historic Maui town of Lahaina even though they were warned by meteorologists, the state's attorney general said Friday.
The finding came in a 518-page report drafted for the attorney general by the Fire Safety Research Institute. It's the second of a three-part investigation aimed at understanding the tragedy and how best to avoid such disasters in the future.
The Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century.
Here's what to know:
Many didn't know the fire was threatening their seaside town. Powerful winds knocked out electricity, depriving people of internet, television and radio. Cell networks went down, so people couldn't exchange calls and texts or receive emergency alerts. Police delivered warnings door to door, but Maui County officials failed to sound emergency sirens telling residents to flee.
Many decided to leave upon smelling smoke and seeing flames. But they soon found themselves stuck in traffic after police closed key routes to protect people from live power lines toppled by high winds.
One family made it out by swerving around a barricade blocking Honoapiilani Highway, the main coastal road leading in and out of Lahaina. Some jumped in the ocean to escape the flames. Others died in their cars.
Maui police said 102 people died. Victims ranged in age from 7 to 97, but more than two-thirds were in their 60s or older, according to the Maui police. Two people are missing.
The toll surpassed that of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise. A century earlier, the 1918 Cloquet Fire broke out in drought-stricken northern Minnesota, destroying thousands of homes and killing hundreds.
The Maui Fire Department will release a report on the origin and cause of the fire, which will include the results of an investigation led by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. A county spokesperson said the fire department hasn't yet received the ATF's findings.
Some queries have focused on a small, wind-whipped fire sparked by downed power lines early on Aug. 8. Firefighters declared it extinguished, but the blaze appears to have flared up hours later and turned into an inferno.
An Associated Press investigation found the answer may lie in an overgrown gully beneath Hawaiian Electric Co. power lines and something that harbored smoldering embers from the initial fire before rekindling.
Hawaiian Electric has acknowledged its downed lines caused the initial fire but has argued in court filings it couldn’t be responsible for the later flare-up because its lines had been turned off for hours by the time the fire reignited and spread through the town. The utility has instead blamed Maui fire officials for what it believes was their premature, false claim that they had extinguished the first fire. The county denies firefighters were negligent.
Thousands of Lahaina residents have sued various parties they believe to be at fault for the fire, including Hawaiian Electric, Maui County and the state of Hawaii.
Plaintiffs and defendants reached a $4 billion global settlement last month. It's not final because some parties have asked the Hawaii Supreme Court to weigh in on how insurance companies might be allowed go after Hawaiian Electric and others to recoup money they've already paid to policyholders to satisfy insurance claims.
The fire displaced about 12,000 people, most of them renters, upending a housing market already squeezed by a severe supply shortage.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is helping 1,700 households pay rent. It's building modular homes for hundreds more alongside the state and nonprofit organizations.
Maui's mayor has proposed legislation that would force owners of 7,000 vacation rentals to rent to residents to free up housing for survivors. Some estimates say 1,500 households have left Maui as rents have soared.
The Army Corps of Engineers this month finished clearing debris from all 1,390 burned residential properties. Rebuilding has begun on 20 lots.
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 - 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 - A general view shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, 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)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan is hosting a major security meeting this week, with senior leaders from longtime ally China and archrival India among those attending.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization was established in 2001 by China and Russia to discuss security concerns in Central Asia and the wider region.
But it’s Pakistan’s own security that is under the microscope.
An attack on a foreign ambassadors’ convoy, violent protests by supporters of an imprisoned former prime minister, and a bombing outside Pakistan’s biggest airport are signs the country is struggling to contain multiplying threats from insurgents.
The meeting, which begins Tuesday in Islamabad, comes at a crucial time for the government. Here’s why:
Pakistan says it has foiled attacks through intelligence-based operations and preventative measures. It frequently vows “to root out terrorism.”
But the frequency and scale of the recent violence give the impression that the government isn’t in control and raises questions about its ability to protect key sites and foreigners, let alone Pakistanis.
In the last few weeks, separatists from Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province have killed Chinese nationals in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, as well as more than 20 miners in an attack on housing at a coal mine, and seven workers in another attack. The outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, is better at mobilizing fighters in different areas and its operational capabilities have increased.
The group wants independence for the province. It’s not interested in overthrowing the state to establish a caliphate, which is what the Pakistani Taliban want. But the two groups have a common enemy -- the government.
Analysts have said the BLA is getting support from the Pakistani Taliban. But, even without an alliance, attacks in the southwest are becoming more audacious and brutal, indicating that the BLA’s tactics are evolving and taking the security apparatus by surprise.
The Pakistani Taliban continue their shootings and bombings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.
It could be difficult for militants to hit the meeting, given the security around it and the areas where delegates will stay. But they could still wreak havoc.
Vehicles are often just waved through street checkpoints in Islamabad. Aside from government buildings and top hotels, body searches and under-vehicle scanners are rare.
“At stake for the entire state is the only mission -- how to hold such an event peacefully,” said Imtiaz Gul, the executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies. “How to get it done without any unpleasant incidents taking place. It’s going to be a formidable challenge for the government to disprove the notion of failures within the security apparatus.”
Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said last week that the national economy suffered cumulative daily losses of more than $684 million on account of recent agitation.
He was referring to supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan reaching the heart of the capital, despite a suspension of cellphone service and placement of shipping containers at access points to the city. The shutdown hit most business sectors, the gig economy, point-of-sale transactions, commuters, students, workers and more.
Pakistan can’t afford to incur such losses or deepen people’s grievances. It relies on International Monetary Fund bailouts and multibillion-dollar deals and loans from friendly countries to meet its economic needs. There are regular protests over energy bills and the cost of living.
Despite people's hardships, authorities have declared a three-day holiday surrounding the meeting.
There have been reports of the government ordering the closure of wedding halls, restaurants, hotels, cafes and markets in Islamabad and the neighboring garrison city Rawalpindi for security reasons.
Officials denied the reports, but not very strenuously.
“Generally, high-profile conferences are meant to promote connectivity, trade and improve a country’s image,” said Gul. But not in this case because Islamabad won't look like a normal city, he said.
“It seems they lack innovative thinking," Gul said. "They are unable to use smart approaches and that’s why the easier way is to shut everything down.”
The last time Pakistan hosted a major conference was in March 2022, a month before Khan was kicked out of office and a new cycle of upheaval started.
The country's security situation and political instability are two factors that have prevented it from holding big international events.
Even its best-loved sport, cricket, has suffered. There was a 10-year absence of test matches after terrorists ambushed a Sri Lanka team bus in 2009, killing eight people and injuring players and officials.
The meeting is Pakistan’s chance to shine, especially in front of its neighbor China, to whom it is in hock by several billion dollars and whose nationals are prime targets for armed groups, as well as India, which is sending its foreign minister to the country for the first time since 2015.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars and built up their armies but also developed nuclear weapons. China and India fought a war over their border in 1962.
Pakistan, unused to hosting such a high-level meeting, will have to put its best face forward.
Senior defense analyst Abdullah Khan said the government wants to show its international legitimacy amid the domestic crises.
“The presence of heads of state and other senior officials will itself be a success as Pakistan will come out of its so-called isolation,” said Khan. “A peacefully held SCO will further improve the country’s image.”
Associated Press writer Munir Ahmed contributed to this report.
A police officer and a paramilitary soldier stand guard at a barricaded road leading to Presidency, in background, and to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Paramilitary soldiers stand guard at a barricaded road leading to Presidency, in background, and to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Police officer frisk a car at a checkpoint close to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Police officers stand guard at a barricaded road leading to Presidency, in background, and to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
An army vehicle moves past a welcoming billboard with portraits of China's Premier Li Qiang, center, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, displayed along a road leading to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A paramilitary soldier stands guard at a barricaded road leading to Presidency, in background, and to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
A worker gives the final touches to a floral artwork "welcome" display close to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Police officers stand guard next to a welcoming billboard with portraits of China's Premier Li Qiang, center, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, displayed at a road leading to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
An army vehicle moves past a welcoming billboard with portraits of China's Premier Li Qiang, center, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari, displayed along a road leading to the venue of the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
