Expert raises new concerns about Maui County’s ability to respond to upcoming fire season

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - As the summer fire season nears, there’s growing concern about Maui County’s ability to respond to new wildfire emergencies.

HNN Investigates spent nine months reviewing public records with experts to understand what government should be doing now to protect lives and property.

Toby Clairmont, a retired emergency manager, says one of the biggest problems the day Lahaina burned stems from the fact there’s no evidence Maui County had a wildfire plan to help steer its emergency response during the disaster.

As far as where a plan stands today is still unclear.

As flames began to devour Lahaina town the afternoon of Aug. 8, police body cam video shows first responders repeatedly communicating dire messages to dispatch minutes into the fire fight.

HNN Investigates

“Just take it slow. Take it slow bro,” said an officer to his partner as flames got dangerously close to their patrol vehicle.

“Oh! our car’s on fire,” said the officer behind the wheel.

“Bro we got to tell Central. Central 3. We got to get all of these cars down Lahainaluna Road. The fire’s right next to the cars. We can’t see,” the officer radioed to dispatch.

That same day, even as flames tore through Lahaina, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said on HNN’s 6 p.m. news: “I am happy to report the road to and from Lahaina is clear.”

At the same time, back-and-forth banter via texts between former Maui Emergency Management Agency Director Herman Andaya and a MEMA Secretary stationed inside the county’s Emergency Operations Center made it clear leadership was unaware the town was on the verge of being swallowed by a ferocious fire.

“I think the absence of a plan really hampered their response. That was the biggest issue. And in the future the biggest liability for the county,” Clairmont told HNN Investigates.

A response plan “tells everyone, OK, this is my job and this is what I should do. I didn’t see evidence of any of that.”

RELATED COVERAGE:

• First phase of state’s exhaustive wildfire report highlights communications failures
• HNN Investigates: Lahaina disaster highlights lack of safety equipment, fire training for Maui officers
• Log of personnel at Maui EOC on day Lahaina burned offers insight — and raises more questions

Clairmont has more than 40 years’ experience as a professional emergency manager, responding to disasters like Hurricane Katrina. Upon retirement, he was third in command at Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency.

Clairmont called the initial response from firefighters and police on the ground superb.

As for what should have been occurring in Maui’s Emergency Operations Center, he said: “What you’ve got to expect is that the county is anticipating your needs and beginning to preposition and in some cases push out resources before you even ask.”

But Clairmont says that’s not what happened.

“I didn’t get a sense they got great support,” he said.

Clairmont added leadership at the county level appeared fragmented and clumsy.

Records show decision-makers were far more concerned about fires burning Upcountry in Olinda and Kula. Meanwhile, there seems to have been a false sense that the situation in Lahaina was under control.

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The county also failed to enlist the state for back-up until it was too late.

“They weren’t focused on the issue,” Clairmont said. “They hadn’t even defined the problem.”

What’s still a mystery is why information first responders were providing from the field didn’t appear to make it to leadership until after the town was leveled.

“They should have had that communication right there in the EOC,” said Clairmont.

“In yesteryear, you could easily monitor police and fire communications. That is not as easy to do today with encryption and digital communications. So did they have the right equipment? Probably. Did they man that equipment with somebody that knows what’s being said and what to listen to? That’s also worth looking at.”

All are questions that should be answered in the Attorney General’s final report from its independent investigation.

Clairmont says one thing we do know is there’s no indication officials were working together to enact any kind of coordinated and sustained response.

“One of the things that concerns me from reading all of this is the key leaders: the Mayor, the emergency manager and maybe others were not in the EOC face to face. You’ve got Zoom. You’ve got Teams. There’s a lot of ways of doing that,” he said.

In their absence, he says others may not have felt it was their place to make critical decisions.

“A lot of folks mid-level, lower level in any emergency management agency don’t always feel like they have the power to do that. And they need that power,” said Clairmont.

“That’s why you need senior leaders there.”

Going forward, Clairmont says one of the county’s top priorities should be outlining a wildfire response plan, “You need to train people. And you need to resource them. They should be meeting frequently because it could happen again this summer,” he said.

We asked the Bissen Administration if the county has created — or is in the process of creating — a wildfire specific annex its all-hazard plan. We also wanted to know who’s in charge of putting that plan together when it’s expected to be complete and what it includes.

That was last Thursday. We’re still waiting for a response.

Clairmont says its also important for the county’s emergency management staff to get hands on training. “Go on some of these national or federal emergencies to learn what it’s like and what the needs are. That’s how I learned,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state admitted at the time of the Lahaina fire it too didn’t have a plan specific to wildfire response.

In January, officials told HNN Investigates the state was in the process of adding a wildfire component to its All-Hazard plan. HNN sought an update, but has not received one.

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