The Maui County Council is considering a resolution to authorize a formal investigation of the county’s response to the wildfires that devastated Maui last month.
On Thursday, the council’s Disaster, Resilience, International Affairs, and Planning Committee took public testimony on the resolution, which overwhelmingly supported an investigation.
Maui Councilmember Tamara Paltin chairs the committee and said the investigation will focus on future legislation to address emergency evacuation and policies.
“The purpose is to find out what are the emergency evacuation procedures and how they are and if there needs to be legislative action going forward to make people feel safer that they will be notified if there is an emergency," Paltin said.
"Also to find out the procedures as roads are closed for safety issues that there still is a way out for people," she added.
The resolution will be voted on in Friday's Maui County Council meeting.
A separate, independent investigation into the fires and the state and county’s performance is being conducted by the state attorney general’s office.
A third investigation by the Congressional House Oversight and Accountability Committee will look into the federal government’s response to the Maui wildfires.
