Maui officials should have known what was coming. In 2014, they were put on notice that highly flammable invasive grasslands presented a serious wildfire risk. In 2018, after West Maui fires destroyed 21 houses and 27 cars, angry residents criticized the poor disaster response. The next year, wildfires charred five times more land in Maui County compared with the previous year, and Hawaiian Electric admitted it needed to better fortify its power lines. In 2021, another report came out urging officials to clear flammable grasses. Again and again, the warnings came.
Days before the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, weather forecasters warned that fierce winds would give life to dangerous fire conditions across much of the island, offering still more time to coordinate potential evacuation plans. As the fires barreled toward neighborhoods, officials failed to activate its expansive All-Hazard Statewide Outdoor Warning Siren System, instead opting for digital and radio communications many residents say they never got. At least 115 people have died, and more than 300 are missing.
In the aftermath, leaders said “nobody saw this coming,” but that is wrong.
There should be no more deflection of accountability. Generally, three things are needed to start a wildfire: climate, tinder and a spark. And while climate change will likely continue to fuel drought, heat and hurricane intensity, which helped strengthen the 80-mph winds, officials can act on other obvious ways to prevent this devastation in the future.
Invasive grasses and shrubs, many of which are extremely flammable, cover about a quarter of land in Hawaii. And months of drought rapidly dried out the vegetation encroaching around homes and communities. Vegetation removal strategies should be implemented immediately because nonnative grasses thrive after fires and claim the space where native grasses once lived.
As for the spark, many lay blame on Hawaiian Electric, which is facing lawsuits from Maui County and others as evidence mounts that downed utility poles ignited fires. More than 30 utility poles, some of which still had energy coursing through them, fell across the region, and video footage showed a fallen power line setting a grass fire near Lahaina, the historic town destroyed in the flames.
While the fire’s precise causes — or combination of them — have yet to be determined, power lines are known to spark deadly wildfires. Pacific Gas & Electric power lines ignited the California wildfire that previously held the record for the nation’s deadliest modern fire. Now, California, along with Oregon and Nevada, will shut down electricity when adverse conditions arise.
Though Hawaiian Electric was aware California’s power shutoff plan was an effective way to prevent wildfires last year, the company that supplies 95 percent of Maui residents with electricity didn’t have formal plans in place to cut power ahead of high winds. These protocols should be crafted, in addition to taking more aggressive action in trimming vegetation and applying fire retardant to poles in at-risk areas.
But Hawaii is not the only state that needs to prepare for wildfires. Some of the largest on the U.S. mainland were also fueled in part by invasive grasses. Half of all addresses on the continental United States face some type of wildfire risk, and the numbers will likely only increase. Wildfires, once they start, can move a mile a minute. But the warnings are here now and should not be ignored.
