Hawaii has a robust emergency siren warning system. It sat silent during the deadly wildfires::Some Maui residents are questioning the effectiveness of the emergency warning system employed as the wildfires spread rapidly across Lahaina and other parts on Tuesday. Hawaii’s attorney general is leading a review of the emergency response.
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In fact, the state’s vaunted integrated outdoor siren warning system – the largest in the world, with about 400 alarms – was not activated during the fires, according to Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Adam Weintraub.
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez will lead a comprehensive review of the emergency response with the goal of “understanding the decisions that were made before and during the wildfires,” her office said in a statement.
While Maui’s warning sirens were not activated, emergency communications with residents were largely limited to mobile phones and broadcasters at a time when most power and cell service was already cut.
Fueled by a combination of strong winds and dry conditions – and complicated by the island’s geography – the blaze virtually destroyed the tourist and economic hub of Lahaina and left authorities searching frantically for the missing.
May Wedelin-Lee, who also lost her home in Lahaina, said the wind shifted and smoke and flames overtook her community so quickly early Tuesday afternoon that people had less than 10 minutes to prepare.
Brock Long, who as former Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator from June 2017 to March 2019 coordinated the response to more than 100 wildfires, said the unpredictability of fires means decisions need to be made quickly.
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