As the state Department of Education prepares to welcome Lāhainā students back to school this month, there are growing concerns that schools are not prepared for future wildfires.
While the DOE has an evacuation plan for fires on campus, there isn't one for brushfires, such as those that occurred during the Aug. 8 inferno that ripped through West Maui's historic town. Top education officials say they're working on it.
Curt Otaguro, a deputy superintendent of operations, said the DOE has emergency plans statewide for many threats, including tsunamis and missiles.
But while the Lāhainā complex area had an evacuation plan for building fires, "it was never contemplated or incorporated to plan when you had a wildfire."
"We never thought that an entire town would be burned down and at risk," Otaguro told HPR.
The whipping winds that spread the Aug. 8 wildfire knocked out power earlier in the day, leading to school closures that inadvertently saved lives.
The fire destroyed King Kamehameha III Elementary on Front Street, while Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary, Lahaina Intermediate, and Lahainaluna High are still standing.
The fire killed at least 98 people, including a Lahainaluna High School student.
"We found a deficiency"
The DOE has emergency action plans, or EAPs, for 258 public schools. Otaguro said the plans, specific to each school, are updated annually.
For example, some schools on Hawaiʻi Island are prone to lava flow or vog, and several schools statewide are in tsunami zones.
Otaguro said there was an effort last year to standardize the emergency plans to follow the U.S. Department of Education's standards for best practices. He also said that the DOE follows standards set by the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency.
"Right now, we should review all plans because we found a deficiency," he said. "It needs to be addressed, and it needs to be incorporated into what are called wildfire threats."
The DOE is working with Maui County and the state Department of Transportation on its evacuation plan for Lāhainā. Otaguro said they're looking at alternative routes as Lāhainā has one-way-in and one-way-out roads.
However, creating escape routes could be challenging, depending on where the wildfire spreads.
One option, Otaguro said, is to create alternative roads on either side of the Lahaina Bypass to "access streets through the neighborhood."
There's also only one road connecting the highway to Lahaina Intermediate and Lahainaluna High School.
"It's really looking for alternative routes because, now, what we're considering is the wildfire surrounding the school and what's the best path," Otaguro said.
He said that an immediate response to wildfires would be to shelter in place. But if the fire is imminent, the school community would need to find so-called safe zones, something Otaguro said will be in the new evacuation plan.
Updating evacuation plans is common in the aftermath of disasters. After the 2018 Camp Fire that burned through Paradise, California, the Paradise School District revamped its evacuation plans to include safe zones within its school district and nearby towns.
"I think the lessons learned from this is to be a little more proactive in decision making, as to when you're going to evacuate if students are on campus and not wait," Otaguro said.
Growing concerns
Students are expected to return to three Lāhainā schools in mid-October. But several community members questioned the DOE's reopening plans at a recent hearing on Maui, citing their concerns over the evacuation plans and the quality of air and water on campus.
Pakalana Phillips, a former DOE teacher, is a mother of six children — some of whom attend Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary and Lahaina Intermediate. She's worried about kids returning to their Lāhainā schools without a concrete evacuation plan.
"If the fire happened while we were in school, we would have lost so many more of our community members and children," Phillips said at Thursday's hearing, adding that the plan should be statewide and ensure that children can evacuate to safety.
She suggested creating multiple routes off the bypass area in Lāhainā, staggering school start times, starting a firefighting class at Lahainaluna High, and growing native plants surrounding the school to create a fire break.
"Why must we wait to put our kids in danger before somebody comes up with a plan to make sure our children are safe?" Phillips said.
