On Forest Fires: Maui's Déjà Vu
Maui's arson problem.
2017
One night in November of 2017, a fire caused $1.2 million in damages at Kahului Elementary School on Maui. An unnamed 17-year-old boy was charged with arson and burglary before being transferred to a correctional facility on Oahu.
It’s quite odd this school did not have security cameras installed after already having a suspicious fire back in 2010.
2018
In August of 2018, Hurricane Lane passed through Hawaii. In the middle of the night, a fire broke out off of Lahainaluna Road in Lahaina.
Two separate fires would start in nearby neighborhoods later in the day. It was unclear what started them. Fortunately, Lane would bring rain that would help douse the flames. The following commentary from locals gives us a little perspective on what people thought nearly 5 years ago.
Earlier that same summer, there was an arson investigation in Kula after an incident left a house and vehicle burned. The owner happened to be a key witness in a murder trial.
2019
In May of 2019, a mysterious popping noise was reported in Waiehu during the wee hours of the morning. Three parallel-parked cars were suspiciously scorched and fire officials determined they were intentionally set.
In July, homeless witnesses said they saw a man intentionally start a 5-acre fire in a field behind a Walmart. Police would apprehend an unnamed 40-year-old suspect. That same summer, a 9,000-acre brushfire in Kihei would trigger an arson investigation which would lead to the arrest of a homeless man. It was estimated that this fire alone cost the county $400,000 to battle. Following that blaze, arson would be committed by a perpetrator wearing all black at the Hawaii Paroling Authority in Wailuku. Weekly brushfires throughout the summer would trigger several more investigations. The string of fires prompted the Maui Police Department to collaborate with the FBI’s behavioral science unit to generate a profile of what they believed to be multiple arsonists. Police also asked citizens to report any suspicious behavior.
In October, on the same day as a 4,100-acre brushfire in the West Maui mountains, there was a 4-acre brushfire in Wailuku which would lead to another homeless man being charged with arson.
In November, a Kahului man was arrested for suspected vehicle arson.
In 2019, approximately 25,000 acres of land burned on Maui.
2020
In February of 2020, a man allegedly threatened to kill several of his neighbors before attempting to burn down his own home.
Although it was a relatively quiet summer in the midst of a COVID lockdown that saw a drop in crime, there was still arson happening in ancient Kahikinui. It was reported that there were nine separate fires started along the highway.
Later that month, another 1,500 acres would go up in flames in Puunene. Reports did not link it to arson, but the following comment should not be overlooked.
For decades, there were great debates and articles written about controlled sugar cane burns. In 2015, a lawsuit was filed by Maui residents against the 140-year-old Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Company which regularly burned sugar cane fields before harvesting. They were the last Hawaiian sugar cane plantation left before they stopped harvesting in 2016, leaving abandoned sugar cane fields unmanaged.
In December, a man would be charged with attempted murder and arson in Kihei after lighting a van on fire with a woman sleeping inside.
2021
In February of 2021, police arrested a man for arson after he lit a Wailuku home on fire that he was recently evicted from and attempted to flee the island.
2022
In May of 2022, more fires would break out due to arson.
Two people would be charged for six brushfires. Some insight from a local:
An abandoned home in Kihei known for hosting squatters exploded in October and a man was charged with arson.
Several more brush and structural fires were reported throughout the year, but oftentimes the origins of the burns were unknown.
Lahaina in 2023
This week, mainstream newspapers are putting their spin on the story of what happened in Maui. As always, the New York Times kept it classy and didn’t sensationalize one bit. (sarcasm)
People are associating the following circulating video taken in Lahaina with all the destruction in Maui, while completely forgetting that both Kihei and Kula had major fires as well.
This video taken by Shane Treu showed downed power lines on Lahainaluna Road—extremely close to the same location a fire started during Hurricane Lane in 2018—at 6:40am just minutes after being reported to authorities. In this video, you hear him mention that he just got his power back on which suggests there was an early morning outage. A witness who lost his home confirms this.
Everyone was worried about trees knocking down live wires and this man is saying it likely wasn’t caused by these downed lines (in an area with small trees) because the power was out. Had the power briefly been turned back on or were the downed lines a front? Reports say the power was never (intentionally) shut off.
Treu would film two more live videos at 6:43am and 6:57am before evacuating. The following video is the latter taken from his roof.
This should dispel the rumors that fire personnel didn’t respond to fires. Before 9am, the fire would be deemed 100% contained.
This is the point in which there was a huge gap in the timeline. No fire was filmed in the area until around 3:35pm. Was there a hot spot that flared up or was this an unrelated fire? By 3:49pm, this was what the sky looked like from Mill Street.
An hour later, as the L.A. Times reports, high winds coming in from the east would push embers downhill towards the heart of Lahaina.
Over the next several hours, the fire would somehow spread north and south. The devastation would happen along the coastline but also out into the grassy areas.
For an island known for its brushfires, it’s incredible to think a fire on a hill could split directions to engulf a whole town.
Will we learn more in the coming days? Maybe. Stay tuned.