Search and recovery team members check charred buildings and cars within the aftermath of the Maui Fires in Lahaina, West Maui, Hawaii, August 17, 2023.Â
Yuki Iwamura | AFP | Getty Images
Hawaiian Electric is pushing back against a lawsuit filed by Maui County last week blaming the utility for triggering the wildfires which have killed greater than 100 people, caused billions of dollars in damages and left lots of missing.
The utility said power lines toppled by high winds likely caused the morning brush fire in Lahaina but electricity had been off for hours when a second fire occurred that afternoon.
Hawaiian Electric’s stock soared greater than 40% on Monday.
“We were surprised and disenchanted that the County of Maui rushed to court even before completing its own investigation,” Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura said in an announcement Sunday. “We imagine the criticism is factually and legally irresponsible.”
“Unfortunately, the county’s lawsuit may leave us no selection within the legal system but to point out its responsibility for what happened that day,” Kimura said.
Hawaiian Electric said power lines appear to have caused the comb fire that began at 6:30 a.m. local time on the intersection of Lahainaluna Road and Hookahua Street within the historic town. The small fire near the downed poles spread right into a field near Lahaina Intermediate School.
The Maui County Fire Department responded to the morning fire and declared it had been extinguished, in response to the corporate’s account of events leading as much as the wildfires.
Hawaiian Electric crews repairing the downed poles later saw a hearth around 3 p.m. about 75 yards away in the sector near Lahaina Intermediate School and immediately reported it to authorities, in response to the corporate.
Hawaiian Electric said the facility had been off for hours when the crew witnessed that second fire in the sector. By the point the county fire department responded to the afternoon fire, they were unable to contain the blaze because it opened up of control toward Lahaina, in response to the corporate.
Hawaiian Electric is facing a dozen lawsuits looking for damages over its alleged role within the fires. Rankings agency Fitch has downgraded the corporate’s credit to junk, warning that greater than $3.8 billion in potential liability poses an existential threat to the corporate.
The reason for the Maui wildfire outbreak, the deadliest within the U.S. in greater than a century, remains to be under investigation by state, local and federal officials. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has dispatched a team with an electrical engineer to assist with the investigation.
Hawaiian Electric has informed the ATF that it has records to reveal that no electricity was flowing through its wires when the second fire broke out, in response to the corporate.
