The Maui Fire Department, with the assistance of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, released its report this week on the cause and origin of last year’s deadly Maui wildfires.
The report states the Lahaina fire originated from a downed power line that later reignited in a dry, overgrown gulch nearby.
Lahaina resident Charles Nahale lost his Front Street home in the fire. Though the report has been long-anticipated, he says he doesn’t think it brought up any new information.
“The reports that were given are stuff that we have been talking about and hearing about for over a year,” he said.
He also doesn’t feel the report gave the answers he was hoping for — or any new closure after living through the country’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century.
“If this meeting was to bring some kind of closure to us, it didn't bring that at all to me, I don't think it probably did to most people,” Nahale said.
Jordan Ruidas, an organizer of Lahaina Strong, emphasized the trauma that the report can bring to the surface.
“I'm choosing to not watch the whole thing just because of the heavy nature of it,” she explained. “A lot of times when things like that come out, yes, I know the officials want to bring clarity to the people, but it's almost like re-traumatizing all over again.”
She said Lahaina Strong and others in the community are choosing to focus on positive recovery efforts.
“It's a really heavy feeling when things like this come out,” Ruidas said. “I think everybody is just working really hard to just be solution-based. And how can we move forward? How can we get back on our properties? How can we rebuild?”
The report concludes there were not two separate Lahaina fires, but instead a single blaze that reignited in the afternoon. The investigation led to no evidence of negligence from the Maui Fire Department.
Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Giesea said responders stayed much longer than normal after the initial fire was declared contained.
“Our firefighters went above and beyond their due diligence to be as confident as they could be that the fire was completely extinguished before they left the scene,” he said. “They remained on scene for over five and a half hours after the fire was completely contained, and for several hours after any visible signs of fire were detected.”
Community members expressed gratitude for the fire department’s efforts.
Ruidas said responders did their best.
“The fire department couldn't have done anything more than they could have done that day, right?” she said. “They did everything they could, but just the magnitude of the wind and the fire together was just insane.”
Still, Nahale said that based on what he saw, he feels the report might not be telling the whole story.
“As someone who experienced the fire firsthand, the speed, the intensity, the volume and the mass of that fire — the reports just seem a little bit too cut and dry and simple,” he said. “I appreciate all that they have done, but there seem to be some things left out.”
ATF Special Agent Jonathan Blais said the report represents more than a year of investigation, interviews, review of video footage and data, and site visits.
“We want to have a complete and accurate report, and that’s owed to the citizens of Maui,” he said.
Fire officials say multiple hypotheses were investigated and ruled out during the investigation process.
