Hawaii
Communications breakdown left authorities in the dark and residents without alerts amid Maui fire
HONOLULU (AP) — As unpredictable wildfires roared across Maui last August, the head of the emergency management agency dragged his heels about returning to the island amid the unfolding crisis, while a broad communications breakdown left authorities in the dark and residents without emergency alerts, according to a report released Wednesday.
Communications problems were also encountered with the Hawaiian Electric Company, with power and emergency workers unable to confirm that power lines were de-energized until well after flames had caused widespread damage, the report from the Hawaii Attorney General’s office said.
It was the second of two major assessments out this week about the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century. A report released Tuesday by the Western Fire Chiefs Association detailed the challenges facing the Maui Fire Department during the unprecedented series of blazes, including one that killed 101 people in the historic town of Lahaina.
Attorney General Anne Lopez presented the latest report along with Steve Kerber, vice president of the Fire Safety Research Institute.
“When Attorney General Lopez contacted us, clearly we were paying a lot of attention to what was going on in Lahaina and really had the same question that she had. How is it possible that something like this could happen?” Kerber said.
Officials did not answer questions about cause or liability, saying it is only an initial reckoning and two more reports will follow. Investigators are still trying to get some documents from Maui County, officials said.
“We’re going to continue this investigation, and we will follow it wherever it leads,” Lopez said.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is also investigating, and its report, expected to pinpoint cause, will come out before the one-year anniversary.
The report released Wednesday says that five days before the flames broke out, meteorologists warned that strengthening winds resulting from a hurricane south of Hawaii could lead to extreme wildfire risk Aug. 8. “Confidence in the development of critical fire weather conditions this many days away is quite rare, and we believe that this warrants a heads up to you,” a National Weather Service forecaster said in an email to fire contacts Aug. 3.
Kerber described complex and “incredibly fast” fires with flames traveling at a rate of about a mile in 90 minutes.
The Maui Emergency Management Agency had posted to Facebook on Aug. 6 about a “serious fire and damaging wind threat” due to dry conditions as Hurricane Dora passed.
The agency’s administrator, Herman Andaya, was off island at a conference on Oahu on Aug. 8 as the fires intensified. His call and text records show that he was getting updates from Gaye Gabuat, an administrative assistant. After a series of evacuations in Lahaina, Gabuat told Andaya that “multiple people look overwhelmed,” according to the report. Andaya asked if he should come home, to which Gabuat responded, “it may look okay.”
After the fire had been burning for more than five hours, Gabuat told Andaya that flames had reached Front Street, Lahaina’s commercial heart. Only then did Andaya respond that he had “better come home tomorrow.”
By that time multiple areas had been evacuated, according to a situation report by Andaya’s agency. Front Street had been closed along with the Lahaina bypass road, another key thoroughfare. In Lahaina alone, 29 utility poles were reported downed.
There was no immediate response to attempts Wednesday to reach Andaya, who resigned Aug. 18, via phone, email and social media.
Investigators said they requested incident activity logs and other records from the agency’s emergency operations center, or EOC, on multiple occasions. Derek Alkonis, a manager with the fire research institute, said they had received some information but not everything they had requested. “You’ll find in the report that there is a difficulty with gaining information from the EOC,” Alkonis said. “In terms of the reason for that challenge, it’s going to be analyzed in subsequent reports.”
The report also describes a breakdown in communication between police, firefighters and emergency officials after cell networks went down. Police and firefighters had to communicate using their handheld or car radios on closed channels that public officials and others could not listen to.
Meanwhile a stretched and limited dispatch center had single operators monitoring five or six channels at a time to keep up.
“With no cellular communication, residents and tourists were not able to receive emergency alerts, communicate with loved ones and/or to receive incoming or outgoing calls/texts,” the report’s authors wrote.
They detailed how one police officer told other responders his daughter had been babysitting in a neighborhood that was hit by the fire. Without cell communications he had no way to check if she escaped, and it took two days before he confirmed she was OK.
Fire crews also became trapped, according to staffing logs included in the report. Around 4:30 p.m., one engine was destroyed and another broke down. A firefighter from one of the engines rescued the crews using a police department SUV, according to the logs.
Hawaiian Electric has acknowledged that a downed power line sparked a fire in Lahaina early on the morning of Aug. 8. Firefighters were still mopping up that fire at noon and waiting for a utility worker to arrive and confirm that the power lines had been de-energized. But when the worker got there, he was unable to confirm the power had been cut off — information that would likely have helped fire crews assess the risk of re-ignition as well as the risk posed by other downed lines.
Still, the fire crew determined that the blaze was extinguished and headed back to the station at 2:17 p.m. By 2:55 p.m., several calls came about another fire in the same area. Firefighters were finally advised that power to the area had been shut off at 4:11 p.m., according to the report.
In the months since, Hawaiian Electric has said the lines were shut off for more than six hours before the afternoon fire was reported.
The attorney general’s report is the first phase of a comprehensive assessment that includes a timeline of the Lahaina fire using social media posts, metadata from citizen photos and videos, dispatch records, emergency communications and other sources. It describes the 72 hours before, during and after the blaze, and says investigators relied on “all known available facts” related to the fire and to preparations by local, state and federal agencies.
Because power was out to much of the area, security camera video generally wasn’t available, so investigators had to rely on interviews with residents and first responders to piece together the events.
“What this report doesn’t capture is the loss, the people, the challenges that they’ve gone through, the pain, the sorrow. And some of those things will be analyzed later. But you need the facts first,” Alkonis said.
Phase 2 of the report will focus on how Maui’s fire protection system functioned, specifically what conditions fed the inferno, attempts to stop its spread, and evacuations. The third phase will try to answer the critical question, “How do we prevent this from happening again?”
“The tragedy serves as a sobering reminder that the threat of grassland fires, wildfires, and wildfire-initiated urban conflagrations, fueled by climate change and urban encroachment into wildland areas, is a reality that must be addressed with the utmost urgency and diligence — not just in Hawaii, but around the globe,” the authors wrote.
The fire destroyed roughly 3,000 properties in Lahaina and caused more than $5.5 billion in estimated damage, according to state officials.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
‘Still a threat’; Victim decries decision to release one of Hawaii’s most notorious serial rapists
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – One of Hawaii’s most notorious serial rapists is set to be released Thursday, prompting concern about whether the so-called “Manoa rapist” is still a danger to the community.
John Freudenberg was flown back to Oahu on a charter flight last week from Hilo’s minimum security prison.
The transport was in preparation for his release on Thursday.
One of his victims told HNN Investigates that she believes he should remain behind bars.
“John Freudenberg is still a threat to public safety,” said the woman, who asked that her name not be released. The woman is credited with helping to catch Freudenberg after she picked him out of a line-up.
“He broke into my house and held me hostage in my home and held a knife to my throat, raping me and telling me he was going to kill me,” the woman said. She added that before he left, he said something to her that made her realize he had no self control. “He said, ‘I’m sorry, this had to happen to you,’” she said.
Freudenberg served more than 40 years behind bars for a series of attacks against 15 women in Manoa in the 1980s. He was 23 when he pleaded guilty to crimes, including rape, sodomy, sex abuse and burglary.
The woman who spoke to HNN said Freudenberg cannot be trusted and pointed to his own words at a parole hearing, in which he could not guarantee that he wouldn’t reoffend.
Freudenberg’s attorney, Myles Breiner, said he understands why victims feel that way, but said his client has served his time and deserves a chance to live outside prison walls.
Breiner pointed out that Freudenberg completed multiple sex offender treatment programs.
Breiner added his client recognizes the terrible things he has done, but has taken all steps necessary to be reformed. “He has spent 40 years in prison without a misconduct, which is extraordinary,” Breiner said.
The attorney said Freudenberg did not have one infraction while behind bars.
Freudenberg was a University of Hawaii Manoa honors student and president of his fraternity when he committed the crimes over a 14-month period.
He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole, and was denied parole repeatedly until last year. After his release, Freudenberg will live in a halfway house with an ankle monitor.
The Hawaii Paroling Authority said Freudenberg “will be closely supervised by the HPA’s Sex Offender Supervision Unit. He will be under the highest level of supervision that includes a strict curfew, electronic monitoring, reporting in-person to his parole officer at least once a week and other stringent rules he must adhere to.” Breiner also said Freudenberg will have to go out and find a job.
Freudenberg became an electrician while in prison.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
Hawaii
Terry Hunter reviews RIPLEY
Hawaii
Hawaii baseball team flexes depth in midweek rout of Hawaii Hilo
HONOLULU — Rich Hill saw an opportunity to empty his bench and took full advantage of it.
The Hawaii baseball team used all 17 of its position players — including first-time batter Itsuki Takemoto — and reached deep into its bullpen in a 13-1 midweek rout of little sibling Hawaii Hilo at Les Murakami Stadium on Tuesday night.
“It was great to see these guys compete,” Hill told Spectrum News. “Guys like Blake Hiraki, who’s meant so much to this program over four years. Getting Kamana (Nahaku) in there, getting Bronson (Rivera), and seeing our pitchers really compete. So that was awesome.”
Lineup regulars Kyson Donahue (2-for-3, three RBIs), Austin Machado (2-for-2, three runs) and Jake Tsukada (two walks, a hit by pitch and three runs) put up numbers while part-time starter Sean Rimmer belted his third homer of the season, best on the team among non-regulars.
Cory Ronan got the start and allowed Hilo’s only run, unearned, in the first inning. The first man out of the bullpen, Hunter Gotschall (1-1), went two innings with a walk to pick up the win. Six other relievers worked an inning each from there to round out the three-hitter.
UH (26-15, 9-9 Big West) has won five straight heading into this weekend’s three-game series against Big West co-leader Cal State Northridge (28-14, 14-4). The series opener is 6:35 p.m. Friday.
“I hope we have standing room only,” Hill said.
The ‘Bows are still well out of the BWC regular-season race, but with an RPI of under 90, have a chance to improve their resume for NCAA at-large consideration over the remaining 12 regular-season games.
UH improved to 4-0 against Division II competition this season, including 2-0 against Hilo. It’s closing in on its first 30-win season since 2012, which would be the first under third year coach Hill.
Takemoto, the freshman from Wakayama, Japan, entered the program billed as a two-way player but had so far appeared only as a right-handed pitcher.
That changed when he entered as a pinch hitter for Machado in the sixth inning. He struck out on four pitches against Jake Liberta in his first collegiate at-bat, but got a second chance as a designated hitter in the eighth and poked a single up the middle off of Waiakea High graduate Cody Hirata.
“He’s one of those guys in BP who’s shortened up everything,” Hill said. “He is exactly like (Shohei) Ohtani … it’s the whole batting stance and everything else. He’s got some juice in there. I’d like to get him some more reps. I think he’s got lightning in that bat; he just needs a lot of ABs.”
Hilo sophomore Tui Ickes, the older brother of UH third baseman Elijah Ickes, saw action at first base off the bench. But Elijah Ickes did not reach first with his brother manning the bag, nor did Tui Ickes reach third after drawing a walk.
UHH, led by coach Kallen Miyataki, was out of the running for the PacWest tournament and concluded its season at 19-31.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
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