On August 8th, the state of Hawaii suffered a catastrophic event that led to Maui and its surrounding areas on fire. The Maui service sent everyone a red flag on Thursday at 6 p.m. to warn everyone that they had a significant risk of a fire close to the southwestern part of Maui and wanted to ensure everyone was prepared. Everybody got the same message explaining that the air was humid and windy and had a 50% chance that there was going to be a fire. Friday morning, one power line had been gusted down with the powerful winds. Cars, buildings, and land have all been caught on fire. When the Hawaii electric company went to fix what needed to be fixed, they saw no fire until one of the workers noticed that there was smoke close to where they were. When they arrived at the spot they noticed it was too late; everything was on fire and could not stop it. When the firefighters arrived they used up 20,000 gallons of water trying to stop the fire. After they got to the fire to die down, everyone that was on site noticed that there were so many buildings burnt down.
Many people tried to escape but it was too late. People in buildings, cars, and out in the open got caught in the blazing fires. Some people even tried to go into the ocean so they would not be caught in the fires but they drowned. One 7-year-old had been caught in the fire while in the car. His name was Tony Takafua and had one baby sister and two loving parents who sadly passed away in the fire while in the car as well. They were trying to escape but got caught in a fire that exploded close to their own home. When they found them, Takafua was hugging his baby sister to shield her from any debris flying at her. About 115 and counting have sadly passed because of the raging fire. About 200,000 buildings were burned down to the ground and all that is left is the ashes. About 2,000 people are staying in shelters. There were 13 evacuations in a couple of different neighborhoods. Everyone was trying to escape the fires because they had kids or they just wanted to get away from the nightmare that was about to happen. They have lost their homes, pets if they had any, and even their loved ones. It’s devastating that this has happened. Nobody deserves to lose their loved ones. 300-800 people are still missing and haven’t been found. Many people have been volunteering to help people and helping with other things. They don’t want anyone to visit over there unless they are helping with the rescue.
People are filing a lawsuit because Hawaii Electric Company did not turn off the power line when it needed to be turned. They didn’t bother to send an alert about the fires. They just let everyone figure out that there was a fire close to them. Everything took a turn for the worse when they found evidence that it took them close to 30 minutes to power off the power line. The Hawaii Electric admitted to having started the fires. They say that there might have been a second ignition, but provided no evidence. They also blame the firefighters for not controlling the fires and risking everyone’s lives. The firefighters who risked their lives to tend to the fire are fighting back because it wasn’t their fault that this had happened. They were the ones who responded early in the morning to tend to the fires for approximately 8 hours. The afternoon winds made it worse because it was flaring it up. Hawaii Electric is blaming everyone besides itself because they don’t want to deal with the consequences that they are about to face in court for causing these fires that cost people’s houses and their lives. The court date has not been set.
