When Hawaii officials released a report last year ranking the natural disasters most likely to threaten state residents, tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic hazards featured prominently. Near the bottom of a colour-coded chart, the state emergency management agency described the risk of wildfires to human life with a single word: “low.”
Other reports over the past five years show authorities knew the risk of fires was increasing and could be exacerbated by hurricane-force winds – like the Lahaina blaze was. “Fires occurring as a result of and concurrent with another major threat or disaster, such as a hurricane, are particularly challenging,” one report stated, with first responders and firefighters stretched to capacity.
In August 2018, brush fires broke out as Hurricane Lane neared Maui. The fires engulfed more than 2,000 acres and forced dozens to flee their homes. The storm should have been considered a “real-world wakeup” call for Hawaii, according to a 2019 plan from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. Despite these growing dangers, Hawaii state budgets for fire management have not kept pace with worsening conditions, according to the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, a nonprofit.
“When we are preparing for the hurricane, we expect rain, sometimes we expect floods,” Hawaii Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said at a press conference Wednesday. “We never anticipated that in this state that a hurricane which did not make impact on our islands would cause this type of wildfires.”