By Abby Hsu ‘25, News Section Editor

Lahaina Front Street Before Wildfires (8/17/19) vs After Wildfires (8/15/23)

(Image Courtesy of Maui Now)

It was 6:55pm on December 19, 2022, in Lahaina, Maui. I stopped on the sidewalk near the Main Street shops to take a video of the ocean waves crashing onto the shore just across the street. The sun was already starting to set behind the clouds, revealing a hue of yellow, orange, and blue.

Fast forward to August 8, 2023 at 3:15pm. Fires ripped through Lahaina’s Front Street, swallowing homes, shops, and restaurants alike. The only two main roads heading out of Lahaina were blocked by fallen power lines, leaving residents with no options but to abandon their cars and jump into the ocean. Decimating 3,200 acres of land, destroying 2,200 buildings, and killing 115 people, the Maui wildfires were the deadliest wildfires in the U.S. in over a century. Mother Nature can’t receive all the blame, however. There were numerous human errors as well. 

The first error was miscommunication in evacuation alerts. Even though the Wireless Emergency Alerts System was launched in 2012, there is little guidance for emergency response agencies on how and when to send these alerts. Maui’s emergency management chief, Herman Andaya, considered activating audible warning sirens, but he didn’t want residents to assume a tsunami was coming. So instead, officials opted to send cell phone warnings, which many residents did not receive due to fallen power lines and spotty cell service. Even for the residents who did receive these notifications, they were sent an hour too late and only reached the area east of the commercial district of Front Street. 

There have been many mistakes with emergency alert systems in the past. For example, in 2018, Hawaii sent out a false warning of an incoming ballistic missile, triggering anxiety and distrust in the system for months. One possible solution comes from Australia, another wildfire hotspot, where some states have developed emergency apps such as Fires Near Me that allow residents to track danger on a real-time basis and can access a user’s location in case of an emergency; an application similar to Fires Near Me would have been lifesaving in Maui.

The second error resulted from a tremendous lack of preparation. Many Maui residents told the New York Times that they had never been trained on how to evacuate in the event of fast-moving wildfires. Hawaii’s guide on disaster response didn’t even include wildfires until after the disaster occurred. Given the large number of wildfires that reach Hawaii, it is crucial that the government implements formal training to educate residents on preparedness, evacuation routes, and wildfire prevention. 

However, the lack of preparation also corresponds to the lack of resources in Maui. Despite the numerous billionaires that own properties on Maui, including Oprah Winfrey and Jeff Bezos, the area was not prepared to respond to such a catastrophic event. Only 60-70 firefighters are working at any given time to cover all three islands, which is severely inadequate to provide the support the residents need.

So, what next? Hawaii’s attorney general ordered an outside investigation into the Maui wildfire response. Additionally, rebuilding Maui is estimated to cost $5 billion, and there are still 66 missing people. According to the National Public Radio’s Adrian Florido, a critical concern is that the recovery process will take so long and be so costly that many longtime Lahaina residents will not be able to wait and/or afford to rebuild. 

As high school students, we may feel discouraged to hear about these dire situations. But there is hope! Generation Z is significantly more educated and conscious about climate change, greenhouse gasses, and global warming (which were all major triggers in the Maui wildfires) than the generations who have preceded us. If you want to start now, there are multiple ways to help. Making a donation is a good option; some credible sites are the Maui Nui Strong Fund, the American Red Cross, and the Maui United Way. If donations are not feasible for you, continue to educate yourself and raise awareness for the Maui wildfires by attending Green and Blue’s meeting in October.