On this image taken from video, Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Herman Andaya speaks during a news conference in Wailuku, Hawaii, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023.
AP | Mike Householder
The pinnacle of Maui County’s emergency management agency resigned on Thursday, a day after he defended his decision to not activate sirens during catastrophic wildfires which have taken greater than 100 lives.
Maui Emergency Management Agency administrator Herman Andaya cited health reasons for his resignation, which took immediate effect.
Andaya was asked Wednesday whether he regretted not activating emergency sirens as wildfires spread across West Maui: “I don’t,” he said at a press conference
Andaya said the sirens are mainly used for tsunamis and the general public is trained to hunt higher ground. Escaping to higher ground would have been dangerous through the wildfires, he said.
“We were afraid people would have gone ‘mauka,'” Andaya said, using a Hawaiian word for mountainside. “And if that was the case they’d have gone into the hearth.”
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said he would announce a alternative for Andaya soon: “Given the gravity of the crisis we face, my team and I will likely be placing someone on this key position as quickly as possible,” Bissen said in an announcement Thursday.
Not less than 111 people have perished within the blaze as of Wednesday, with the death toll expected to rise as search dogs proceed to comb the wreckage of the devastated historic town of Lahaina. The inferno is the deadliest wildfire within the U.S. in greater than a century and the worst disaster in Hawaii state history.
State and native emergency management officials face growing scrutiny over whether or not they did enough to alert the general public because the wildfires spread.
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced on Thursday that she’s going to tap an independent investigator to review the state and native response to the wildfires.
“This will likely be an impartial, independent review,” Lopez said in an announcement.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Wednesday the review is just not a criminal investigation.
“It isn’t a criminal investigation in any way,” Green said. “Without delay we’re working to learn the way we are able to be sure that it’s protected as we undergo hurricane season, as we take care of the truth that there will likely be fires month in and month out for the many years to return.”