Hawaii probe finds no contributing factor to Maui fire losses

No single factor caused a wildfire in the Hawaiian city of Lahaina to burn out of control and kill 102 people last year, according to a state report assessing the government’s response to the disaster, but not the root cause.

The report released Friday by the state attorney general attributed the devastation to a confluence of problems, including decades-old utility infrastructure, weather, lack of training and poor communications among emergency responders.

Related: Judge agrees to ask state Supreme Court about barriers to regulation of $4 billion Hawaii wildfires

“This investigation serves as a wake-up call for state and county governments to learn from the past and urgently prepare for the future,” Attorney General Anne Lopez said in a statement.

The report will not be the final word on the disaster, the country’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has conducted an investigation into the origin of the fire, but has not yet released its findings.

Related: Hawaii Electric Parts $1.7B Loss From Maui Fire

The findings of the state investigation, prepared by the Fire Safety Research Institute, come after parties including the state of Hawaii, Maui County and Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. reached a tentative $4 billion settlement to resolve hundreds of lawsuits due to wildfires. The August 2023 fire damaged or destroyed approximately 2,200 structures, mostly homes, and caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage.

Hawaiian Electric said its wind-damaged power lines started a brush fire near Lahaina the morning of the disaster, but said firefighters had extinguished that fire and left the scene. A fire broke out in the afternoon at the same location and, fanned by strong winds, burned the city, according to the company.

Top photo: Search and recovery team members check charred buildings and cars after the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, West Maui, Hawaii, on August 17, 2023. Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/AFP/Getty Images.

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