A Maui County emergency dispatcher called Hawaiian Electric early on Aug. 8 last year and said one of the utility’s power lines had broken and started a fire near Lahaina, according to a new report issued by the Hawaii attorney general’s office.
The blaze, which ultimately destroyed the historic Maui town later that day and killed at least 101 people, can be traced back to that morning incident, the report said.
The 376-page report, released by Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez on Wednesday, includes transcripts of communication from Hawaiian Electric and emergency responders about where the fire ignited and whether the utility’s power lines had been de-energized in high winds.
The Lahaina blaze destroyed more than 2,200 structures and caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damages, displacing more than 6,000 of the town’s 13,000 residents.
While the report doesn’t assign blame for the disaster, it provides the most comprehensive account thus far of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century, including the roles that downed power lines and wind played.
“The origin of the Lahaina Fire can be traced back to 6:35 a.m., when a fast-moving brush fire, later dubbed the ‘Lahaina AM Fire’ ignited,” said the report, which was produced by the Fire Safety Research Institute in Columbia, Md., at the request of Lopez.
Maui firefighters reported that blaze was extinguished and returned to their quarters at around 2 p.m. A second fire was reported at around 2:55 p.m., at the same location as the earlier incident, according to the report.
A representative for Hawaiian Electric said the report’s description of the early-morning fire aligns with what it has said publicly.
The company has previously said that its power lines likely caused that fire, but that its lines had been shut off for more than six hours by the time the afternoon blaze erupted.
That second blaze, the company stated in response to a lawsuit filed by Maui County, was the one that destroyed Lahaina.
Wednesday’s report doesn’t address the utility’s claims about when its power lines were de-energized.
Even before the Lahaina fire sparked that day, Hawaiian Electric was dealing with damaged poles from high winds and another blaze that had sparked near downed lines on the other side of the island.
“The rate of the fire’s growth would ultimately impede the crew’s work in many areas of Lahaina,” the report said.
Conditions deteriorated so dramatically that water pipes failed, and in some parts of Lahaina, there was no water coming from fire hydrants. Fire crews had to rely on scarce private water tankers instead, the report said.
Some fire crews became trapped. Heat from the fire melted their boots and sealed shut the compartment doors on one engine.
One firefighter used a police SUV to rescue seven colleagues, including an unconscious officer who received CPR, according to the report.
