Hawaii state officials release 1st phase of report on devastating Maui wildfires

LOS ANGELES, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Hawaii state officials on Wednesday released the first phase of an independent analysis regarding the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over a century, which claimed over 100 lives on the Hawaiian island of Maui last August.

The Lahaina Fire Comprehensive Timeline Report, released by the state's Attorney General, Anne Lopez, chronologically details the major events and response efforts related to the catastrophic fire that struck the oceanside historic town of Lahaina on Maui.

The report focuses on the events that occurred prior to, during, and immediately following the Lahaina fire. It includes discussions of preparedness efforts, weather conditions, their impact on infrastructure, and other fires that occurred on Maui during the time period beginning at 2:55 p.m. local time on Aug. 8 (0055 GMT Aug. 9), 2023, and concluding at 8:30 a.m. (1830 GMT) on Aug. 9, 2023.

The analysis was conducted by the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), part of UL Research Institutes, an independent safety science organization with global reach.

"FSRI's goal was to thoroughly document the facts around this tragic event to allow for subsequent analysis and lessons learned," Steve Kerber, executive director and vice president of FSRI, said in a statement. "While the phase one report does not analyze causation, it lays the critical foundation for examining the policies, practices, preparedness, and response that will ultimately improve public safety and resilience against similar fire disasters."

"This phase one is so that we can understand what happened on a minute-by-minute basis," Lopez was quoted by local news outlet Hawaii News Now as saying at a news conference with the report's lead authors.

The report came out one day after an after-action report released by the Maui Fire Department, which details firefighters' emergency responses but does not mention the cause and origin of the devastating wildfires.

The wildfires, which broke out on Aug. 8 last year, had a catastrophic impact, claiming 101 lives, injuring numerous people and causing extensive property damage. The fires burned 6,721 acres, and resulted in the loss of 2,173 structures, with many more damaged, according to data released by the local government.