Ross Hart, a Maui resident, has reported to several news outlets that the water shut off while he and other members of the community were attempting to battle fires.
Speaking to The New York Times, Hart expressed his frustration:
“You can’t fight fire when you don’t have water… Just throwing dirt on it doesn’t cut it.”
WATCH:
Maui resident explains how locals fought wildfire on Kula side until water shut off pic.twitter.com/WwjsO3fKXu
— Jonathan Bustos (@JonathanJBustos) August 13, 2023
Another video of Ross Hart by the New York Times:
When the fire came, the water shut off#Lahaina#Maui pic.twitter.com/k2r0C2VhZl
— Momo (@Momootjem2) August 15, 2023
As the wildfire spread near a residential neighborhood in Lahaina, Hawaii on Tuesday, firefighters were met with an alarming discovery: their hydrants lacked adequate water pressure to control the blaze.
Firefighter Keahi Ho recounted his experience at the scene:
“There was just no water in the hydrants.”
The hurricane-level winds further fueled the inferno as it advanced toward Lahaina’s historic center, making it difficult for fire crews to contain the fire with little to no water supply.
Fortunately, due to concerted efforts from local emergency responders and volunteers, much of downtown Lahaina was spared from destruction.
In Kula, an area of Hawaii separate from Lahaina, 16 structures were destroyed.
Ross Hart, one of the homeowners whose property was damaged, reported that he and other citizens attempted to fight the fire with hoses but later discovered there was no water in them.
This Sunday, Congresswoman Jill Tokuda revealed that the island’s renowned alarm system did not even sound off during this event.
Tokuda noted that people in her state rely so heavily on the alerts that “everybody who’s ever lived in Hawaii knows the warning sirens.”
She emphasized that this system is so important that the state tests it monthly.
“It goes off once a month, at the beginning of the month, at 12 noon. And it blares. And if it doesn’t, it gets fixed because that is our first line of defense,” she said.
The sirens seem to have been silent from the beginning of the fire, which a Maui County press release said began on Aug. 8.
“Neither Maui nor HI-EMA activated warning sirens on Maui [went off] during the wildfire incident,” Hawaii Emergency Services Administration confirmed on Friday, according to
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