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A report from Hawaii Legal professional Normal Anne Lopez targeted on the actions of the Maui County mayor within the response to the devastating wildfire final summer time that killed greater than 100 folks and razed the historic city of Lahaina.
The almost 400-page investigative report launched Wednesday raises new and troubling questions on Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen and his response to the blazes.
“That is about by no means letting this occur once more,” Lopez mentioned in a information convention, emphasizing the report isn’t meant to level fingers.
As hurricane-force winds raged on Aug. 8, 2023, igniting fires, a number of faculties closed and the state was getting ready an emergency proclamation.
However at a number of instances through the day, Bissen mentioned declaring an emergency was “not vital.” At 3:15 p.m., as the hearth grew in depth, state officers tried to achieve him, asking if he was within the emergency operations middle. They had been informed “no.”
As a substitute, with stories trickling in on social media, Bissen lastly signed the emergency order at 8 p.m. that night time, hours after Lahaina burned down.
Final August, CBS Information confronted Bissen, who had admitted not calling Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, the director of the Hawaii Emergency Administration Company.
“I can not converse to what — or whose duty it was to speak instantly,” Bissen responded on the time. “…I can not say who was accountable for speaking with Normal Hara.”
Together with killing greater than 100 folks, the Maui hearth destroyed hundreds of houses and companies. The staggering financial loss is estimated at greater than $5.5 billion.
“Little or no was carried out to stop one thing like this from occurring,” Sherman Thompson, former chair of the Hawaii Civil Protection Advisory Council, informed CBS Information Wednesday.
When requested if the federal government response was negligent, Sherman responded, “I believe it crossed the border, it crossed the road.”
CBS Information has reached out to Bissen’s workplace for remark, however has not heard again.
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