Hawaii authorities vow swift investigation into wildfire while releasing timeline

HONOLULU (CN) — Hawaii's attorney general focused in a Wednesday conference on the timeline of the events prior to, during and immediately following the devastating Lahaina wildfires that destroyed the Maui town and killed over 100 people.

State Attorney General Anne Lopez presented the first report of her department's investigation into the wildfires on Wednesday. Phase one of the investigation culminated in a comprehensive timeline report lays out a minute-by-minute record of the progression of the inferno.

The attorney general's office emphasized that their investigation is not about how or who started the fire, but rather focuses on preparedness efforts, the impact of weather conditions and other fires occurring on Maui within the same time period.

Steven Kerber — Executive Director of the Fire Safety Research Institute, the contractor who has been tasked with investigating the incident — established that phase one is not an investigation into the origin of the fires.

That investigation is currently being conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Kerber says ATF is aiming to have the Lahaina origin investigation report complete by the anniversary of the August 2023 catastrophe.

Lopez's presentation on the wildfires began with a call for empathy, as she reflected on her personal involvement in the response efforts.

“A few days after the wildfire, I was speaking to the governor and he and I were asking the same questions everybody else was, which is, how could something like this ever happened,” said Lopez. “We both agreed that good governance demanded we investigate how state and government functions during this process.”

Lopez made it a requirement that the investigation be completed in its entirety within the first 12 to 18 months, saying, “The people of Hawaii can’t wait four or five years for this report to come out. We need to do it now. While things are still fresh in our minds so we can get to work.”

Lead investigator Derek Alkonis explained how the timeline was compiled. The team began with gathering dispatch records, like communications between firefighters and police officers, which were processed and dropped into a timeline.

They also sought out information from local agencies like Hawaiian Electric, which has weathered a heavy dose of the blame for the fires.

Alkonis also credited most of the timeline information to Lahaina residents, who, along with social media posts, provided the clearest glimpse into the fire's progression and the emergency response.

“There was not good satellite coverage in this particular area,” Kerber said Wednesday. “In some investigations you might see satellite thermal images of how the fire progressed. We didn’t have any of that. So we really had to rely on the residents. We had to rely on the firefighters, the police department, and all of the responders.”

Alkonis touched on weather conditions prior to the fires and showed photos of strong roofs were being ripped off of buildings. The rapidly spreading fires were fanned by winds up to 150 miles per hour coming from Hurricane Dora, which ultimately passed the islands without making landfall.

One notable revelation was the ability of embers from a fire to travel up to a mile away, bypassing nearby homes to spark new blazes at a distance.

“What I found most astonishing, is how the hurricane winds, the clouds, the dryness and the humidity all came together, and I know this sounds trite, but the perfect storm," Lopez said.

She ended the conference saying that she was proud of her team, but the investigation still had a long way to go. The second phase of the report should be complete around autumn of this year.

Phase two will analyze emergency management plans, policies, and procedures to understand what was done wrong or right. Phase three, the final report, will be released by the end of the year and will include a recommendation to prevent future disasters as well as an investigation into the origin of the Lahaina fires.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit