Hawaii fires

[Zorba]

No idea about the sirens in Maui. But in Oklahoma our tornado sirens have battery back up and I believe land line and RF communication. I have never not heard the siren due to utility failures.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

No idea about the sirens in Maui. But in Oklahoma our tornado sirens have battery back up and I believe land line and RF communication. I have never not heard the siren due to utility failures.

-Yeah Maui's warning system sounds like something stuck in the 1950's. What good is an emergency warning system if the very thing causing the emergency can cause the system to fail?

 

[Kaido]

No idea about the sirens in Maui. But in Oklahoma our tornado sirens have battery back up and I believe land line and RF communication. I have never not heard the siren due to utility failures.

I wonder if they had a procedure for fire, separately from hurricanes & tsunamis:

“Nobody at the state and nobody at the county attempted to activate those sirens based on our records,” Weintraub said in an interview.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/12/us/hawaii-emergency-warning-system-maui-wildfires/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2023/08/13/senator-mazie-hirono-hawaii-maui-wildfires-sirens-officials-sotu-vpx.cnn

 

[sportage]

I guess I don't really understand this? How it is happening? I can see CA burning because CA is a desert. But Hawaii is tropical. Rain and damp and humidity and lots of wet. Did everything dry out to allow such a fire?

 

[hal2kilo]

I guess I don't really understand this? How it is happening? I can see CA burning because CA is a desert. But Hawaii is tropical. Rain and damp and humidity and lots of wet. Did everything dry out to allow such a fire?

There are prevailing winds that cause a lot of the islands to have a wet side and a dry side.

 

[BoomerD]

I guess I don't really understand this? How it is happening? I can see CA burning because CA is a desert. But Hawaii is tropical. Rain and damp and humidity and lots of wet. Did everything dry out to allow such a fire?

There are prevailing winds that cause a lot of the islands to have a wet side and a dry side.

The western sides of the islands can be very desert-like. It's the warm dry climate that makes them much more popular to visitors.

 

[hal2kilo]

No idea about the sirens in Maui. But in Oklahoma our tornado sirens have battery back up and I believe land line and RF communication. I have never not heard the siren due to utility failures.

Really doesn't make any sense to set it up, any other way. Key word, emergency!

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

This article explains a lot about the conditions:

Flash drought, invasive grasses, winds, hurricane and climate change fuel Maui’s devastating fires

Hawaii went from lush to bone dry and thus more fire-prone in a matter of just a few weeks — a key factor in a dangerous mix of conditions appear to have combined to make the wildfires blazing a pa…

thehill.com

But I saw another one a couple of days ago (that I can't find again) that mentions abandoned cane fields that were left to become overgrown.

 

[BoomerD]

This article explains a lot about the conditions:

Flash drought, invasive grasses, winds, hurricane and climate change fuel Maui’s devastating fires

Hawaii went from lush to bone dry and thus more fire-prone in a matter of just a few weeks — a key factor in a dangerous mix of conditions appear to have combined to make the wildfires blazing a pa…

thehill.com

But I saw another one a couple of days ago (that I can't find again) that mentions abandoned cane fields that were left to become overgrown.

cane and pineapple...

 

[burninatortech4]

Death toll is up to 93 this morning. As expected, more information is coming about failures at the power utility:

Maui wildfires that have killed at least 96 caused by damaged Hawaiian Electric power lines, lawyers claim

Lawyers from the Watts Guerra, Singleton Schreiber and Frantz Law Group firms say their probes of the deadly Maui wildfires that killed 96 people show the blazes were caused by damaged equipment ow…

nypost.com

https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/08/12/maui-fire-electric-utility/

"Hawaiian Electric, the utility that oversees Maui Electric and provides service to 95 percent of the state’s residents, did not deploy what’s known as a “public power shutoff plan,” which involves intentionally cutting off electricity to areas where big wind events could spark fires. A number of states, including California, have increasingly adopted this safety strategy after what were then the nation’s most destructive and deadliest modern fires, in 2017 and 2018."

HECO Kept The Power Flowing In Lahaina Even As Poles Toppled - Honolulu Civil Beat

The Hawaii utility has acknowledged the growing danger of wildfires and made some changes. But lawsuits are already pointing to the live power lines as a cause in Maui.

www.civilbeat.org

"Hawaiian Electric Co., whose transmission lines run all across Maui, did not shut down the power in Lahaina ahead of this week’s deadly and devastating fires, a technique has been used in California and other places prone to wildfires.Nor did the utility have a formal plan to shut down large parts of the grid, according to company officials."

 

[K1052]

The western sides of the islands can be very desert-like. It's the warm dry climate that makes them much more popular to visitors.

Yeah and this can be experienced even in the less than 20 min drive from Lahaina to Kapalua where the weather is often completely different.

 

[BoomerD]

Yeah and this can be experienced even in the less than 20 min drive from Lahaina to Kapalua where the weather is often completely different.

We were on the big island 20 years ago. Driving through the town of Waimea, there's a place where you can see the difference...there's a "dividing line" where it's green and wet on one side, dry as a popcorn fart on the other.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Lock'em up!!!

Investors Are Calling Maui Wildfire Victims to Buy Their Hawaii Land​

There are at least 96 confirmed fatalities from the wildfires, Maui County officials said.

 

[BoomerD]

Lock'em up!!!

Investors Are Calling Maui Wildfire Victims to Buy Their Hawaii Land​

There are at least 96 confirmed fatalities from the wildfires, Maui County officials said.

I'm kind of surprised it took this long for the vultures to move in.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I'm kind of surprised it took this long for the vultures to move in.

Yep. Happened last year after hurricane Ian crushed southwest Florida.

 

[Zorba]

I'm kind of surprised it took this long for the vultures to move in.

Yep. Happened last year after hurricane Ian crushed southwest Florida.

It might really make sense for states to ban real estate transactions within X number of days after a major disaster to allow a proper cooling down period. These people are obviously trying to take advantage of grieving/shocked people.

 

[Saylick]

It might really make sense for states to ban real estate transactions within X number of days after a major disaster to allow a proper cooling down period. These people are obviously trying to take advantage of grieving/shocked people.

Not just grieving and shocked, but financially impacted.

"Oh, you don't have a home or job anymore and can't afford housing payments? Here, lemme bail you out with this low, low offer on the land that's currently worth nothing to you."

 

[Homerboy]

and of course the conspiracy theories are already flying about it not being a natural disaster and more man-made and intentional. Like 9/11...

 

[hal2kilo]

cane and pineapple...

Are there no rakes?

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I'm kind of surprised it took this long for the vultures to move in.

You misspelled capitalists tbh

 

[K1052]

Reading about a few incidents where emotional locals are randomly confronting tourists in other parts of Maui. People in South Maui appear concerned that this and vocal warnings not to visit is starting to damage their businesses in the longer term with people canceling trips into September and October.

 

[trenchfoot]

Just found out after many days of trying to get in touch with the bulk of my family relatives that live on Maui that all are safe, including a couple of cousins that raised their families in Lahaina. By some miracle both their homes weren't engulfed by the fire due to their homes being in true ironic fashion close to the source of the fire where it hadn't spread as far and wide as it did further downwind. I had to wait this long before posting up because of how bad communicating with that island is/was during and after the disaster.

 

[UNCjigga]

MAGA conservatives never let a good crisis go to waste. Blame Ukraine.

https://x.com/richardgrenell/status/1690237393901690880

 

[Zorba]

More info about the lack of water in hydrants. Sounds like as properties burned the pipes melted and allowed the water to just start gushing out, after this happened enough the flow rate out of the system was high enough the system could no longer build pressure. I'm guessing it was moving so fast they could get the water valves shut off fast enough. I've noticed in my neighborhood the water shut off valves for the street are always near a hydrant, I'm guessing this is why.

As Inferno Grew, Lahaina’s Water System Collapsed

Firefighters who rushed to contain the Maui wildfire found that hydrants were running dry, forcing crews to embark instead on a perilous rescue mission.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Exterous]

Death toll is up to 93 this morning. As expected, more information is coming about failures at the power utility:

"Hawaiian Electric Co., whose transmission lines run all across Maui, did not shut down the power in Lahaina ahead of this week’s deadly and devastating fires, a technique has been used in California and other places prone to wildfires.Nor did the utility have a formal plan to shut down large parts of the grid, according to company officials."

They claim the firefighter were using water pumps that would have stopped too.

Although I'm skeptical of most power companies. Lots of time and effort to only do the minimum required. Like not burying lines or having an emergency shut off plan because there isn't a law saying they have to