Search and rescue crews glance through the stays of a neighborhood on August 17, 2023 in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is deploying a team that features an electrical engineer to analyze the origins of the catastrophic Hawaii wildfires, because the local power company faces growing scrutiny over whether downed electric poles triggered the blaze.
The ATF has deployed a national response that features an electrical engineer, three fire investigators, and an authority from the bureau’s arson and explosives group, in keeping with an agency statement late Thursday. The team will assist Maui County fire officials of their investigation.
The wildfires have left a minimum of 111 people dead, with the death toll expected to rise as search dogs comb the devastated town of Lahaina for others who perished. The blaze is the deadliest wildfire within the U.S. in greater than a century and the worst disaster in Hawaii state history.
Hawaiian Electric has faced growing scrutiny for not shutting down power lines despite warnings from the National Weather Service that top winds from Hurricane Dora and drought conditions within the state created a high fire risk.
Hawaiian Electric is already facing 4 lawsuits from Maui residents alleging that the ability company’s power lines played a task within the fires.
The corporate issued a press release on Tuesday, August 8, the day brush fires began spreading, that 30 poles were down in West Maui and 30 spans of power lines were down in Upcountry.
During a press conference Monday, Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura said 400 poles out of 750 were damaged or destroyed in West Maui, 300 out of 575 transformers were visibly damaged, and the Lahaina substation was destroyed.
Kimura said Hawaiian Electric doesn’t have a program to shut off power to stop wildfires. She said the practice is just not universally accepted within the industry because it might probably create hardship for people using specialized medical equipment.
Kimura also noted that electricity plays a key role in providing water to Lahaina: “The electricity powers the pumps that provide the water, and in order that was also a critical need during that point,” she said.
In an aerial view, burned cars and houses are seen a neighborhood that was destroyed by a wildfire on August 17, 2023 in Lahaina, Hawaii.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
“There are selections that must be made and all of those aspects play into it,” Kimura said. “So every utility will take a look at that otherwise depending on the situation.”
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez can be investigating the local emergency response to the wildfires, as officials face criticism for not doing enough to alert people.
The Maui Emergency Management Agency didn’t activate sirens in the course of the blaze. Herman Andaya, the agency’s administrator, resigned on Thursday after defending his decision to not activate sirens. When asked whether he regretted his decision, Andaya said: “I don’t.”
Andaya said the sirens are used primarily for tsunamis and officials were frightened people would seek higher ground in the event that they were activated. This may have been dangerous in the course of the fires, he said.
Gov. Josh Green has said the review of the response is just not a criminal investigation.
