Hawaii wildfires: Maui emergency chief quits a day after defending sirens failure
Maui's emergency management chief has quit just a day after saying he had no regrets over his agency's failure to activate its alarm system in last week's fatal wildfire.
Administrator Herman Andaya resigned on Thursday citing health reasons, a day after he defended his handling on the catastrophe.
Outdoor alert sirens on Maui stayed silent as a ferocious fire devastated the seaside community of Lahaina last week.
Andaya had said he feared blaring the sirens during the blaze could have caused people to go “mauka,” using a navigational term that can mean toward the mountains or inland in Hawaiian.
“If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire,” Andaya said on Wednesday.
But the decision not use the sirens, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route that became clogged with vehicles that were overrun by flames, has brought intense criticism from many residents following the deadliest wildfire in the US in more than a century.
The death toll currently stands at 111 people, but only five have been formally identified.
Mayor Richard Bissen accepted Andaya’s resignation effective immediately, the County of Maui announced on Facebook.
Andaya cited unspecified health reasons for leaving his post, with no further details provided.
“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon,” Mayor Bissen said in the statement.
The lack of sirens has emerged as a potential misstep, and The Associated Press reported that it was part of a series of communication issues that added to the chaos.
Hawaii has what it touts as the largest system of outdoor alert sirens in the world.
The siren system was created after a 1946 tsunami that killed more than 150 on the Big Island, and its website says they may be used to alert for fires.
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