Today, Explained - Why Maui burned

Episode Date: August 15, 2023

Hawaii’s landscape has been rapidly changing for the last 200 years thanks to plantations, tourism, and climate change. A reporter and climatologist explain how those factors fueled one of the worst wildfires in US history. Today’s show was produced by Siona Peterous and Haleema Shah, edited by Amina Al-Sadi, fact checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by David Herman and Cristian Ayala, and hosted by Noel King. Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lahaina Maui is almost entirely gone. Today it is in ashes. There are portions of structures that are either, you know, tilted over or completely leveled neighborhoods. You see those who were able to evacuate coming back to their homes and sort of going through the rubble looking for whatever they can find. You know there's things you think you'll always have, you know like things you think you'll give to your children. You know pictures, you know pictures of my parents. Like I grabbed one wedding picture of my parents from my wall and I felt silly doing it because I was like,

we're going to come back, and now it's the only one I have. Coming up on Today Explained, why Lahaina burned. Get groceries delivered across the GTA from Real Canadian Superstore with PC Express. Shop online for super prices and super savings. Try it today and get up to $75 in PC Optimum Points. Visit superstore.ca to get started. We still know that there are hundreds missing there in Lahaina and unaccounted for.

Cadaver dogs are sort of roaming the ashes there in Lahaina, trying to identify as many victims as they can. And those numbers are expected to rise, unfortunately, in these next coming days. Kuwavehi Hiraishi is a general assignment reporter at Hawaii Public Radio in Honolulu. Lahaina was the home to Native Hawaiian royalty, and it became the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1820.

It's also home to the first educational institution west of the Rockies, Lahaina Lunas High School, which was spared in this fire. Lahaina has changed drastically over the last 150 to 200 years following the establishment of a sugar plantation and the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893. So a pioneer mill was established there in Lahaina and that sort of changed the landscape of Lahaina town. Within three years there were 20 sugar mills. From these modest beginnings a great industry was to grow. It was once full of canals and fish ponds, lots of water right there along

the beachfront but that was for the most, filled in following the arrival of sugar plantations and workers needing a space to live, but also some of those changes came about through that, including the arrival of invasive grasses that we know played a part in the recent fire. When did this become a tourist town? Following the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893 and then the subsequent arrival of the U.S. military, but also, you know, Hawaii becoming a state in 1959. It's made official at the White House. President Eisenhower congratulates the new congressional representatives of Hawaii. And Lahaina was sort of ripe for development, so folks wanting to make a little bit of money off of the tropical destination, the beaches. And this was prior to, you know, the state putting together a land use commission

to provide a check and an oversight on this sort of development. But it sort of ran rampant for those first decades of statehood here in Hawaii. Was Maui prepared for wildfires? Looking at it from outside of the state, you get the sense that, like, there was no preparation in place. But I know often after a disaster, it looks that way, but that wasn't really what happened. The State Department of Land and Natural Resources did announce in early July that severe drought conditions were impacting the southern and western coastal areas of Maui.

And I remember that because I did the report on it. continue to predict things will get worse before they get better, with an expectation that more severe drought conditions will plague larger areas of the state into late summer, early fall, and even through next winter. Now, whether or not folks sort of heeded the advice of this state agency or if state agencies themselves prepared for that is sort of what we will see, I think, as events unfold and the investigation by the Hawaii Attorney General's Office into the decisions and policies surrounding the West Maui wildfire are brought to light. We saw images of people who were caught by surprise, who fled their houses with only a minute or two left. Hawaii does have an emergency messaging system. This was an emergency. How should that have worked?

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency did confirm that none of those 80 warning sirens placed around Maui were activated in response to the fire. But they did say that other alert systems were activated, including alerts that were sent to cell phones and through radio and television stations. This is something folks might have remembered recalling the incoming ballistic missile alert that went out to cell phones. An employee at Hawaii's emergency management agency pushed the wrong button, not once, but twice, triggering a wave of panic amid tensions over the threat of a nuclear strike from North Korea. But the power was out for much of the day Tuesday in Lahaina, and many residents, including folks I've spoken to, have said they never got that warning. The state attorney general now opening an investigation into Maui's alert system after complaints that there wasn't enough warning for people to escape the flames.

The attorney general's office is looking into what really happened, but I will add that we do know two lawsuits were filed against Hawaiian Electric, the state's utility company, and its subsidiary, Maui Electric Company, seeking class action status. So more litigation is also expected. Similar to the cases folks might remember with the California-based utility PG&E stemming from the Northern California wildfires a few years ago. So it's still a bit too early to tell. How do you venture this area will recover? Is this the kind of place where most people have

insurance, most people have some extra money to help them through a recovery. What are you hearing in terms of how this city might come back? In particular, the local residents and the Native Hawaiian community out there in Lahaina, some of them may not have the funds to rebuild, but the sort of community solidarity coming in from the other islands in terms of financial donations, goods, and services, this community will recover and will rebuild in a way that I think they will feel empowered to have more say in how they rebuild and perhaps fix some of the systemic problems or issues and challenges that has faced this community for decades, if not centuries.

Is what you've been hearing overwhelmingly that people are going to stick it out, that they're convinced that they will be able to stay and recover? For myself, yes. I've spoken to a Lahaina boat captain, similar situation. One of his boats were lost in the fire. His home was lost in the fire. His two young children, a three and five-year-old, need to now move to the island of Oahu to temporarily enroll in schooling because their school's also burnt down in the fire. Most of my employees are homeless now. They're also my really good friends. And some of them are with child. And it's really hard to see what they're going through. And it's like, oh, how do you even stay?

But he is adamant that he wants to rebuild whatever is necessary to keep his 10 employees in this business home in Lahaina. And so I think there is a sense of resilience there. But, you know, the high cost of living here in Hawaii, not everyone can afford it. And so we will see what sort of aid government or private will be coming in to help folks rebuild and remain in Lahaina. Part of the high cost of living is due to a thriving tourism industry, which you've described. You said it's a tourist town. We saw this really powerful clip that started circulating this weekend in which an unnamed resident of Maui tells the BBC. The same waters that our people just died in three days ago are the same waters the very next day these visitors, tourists were swimming in. And that says a lot about where their heart and mind is through all of this and where our heart and mind is though. You don't see our people swimming, snorkeling, surfing.

Nobody is having fun in tragedy and continuing their lives like nothing has happened. There is two Hawai'is right now. There is the Hawai'i we're living in and the Hawai'i they're living in, they're visiting in. I wonder if you have any thoughts about whether this is a common sentiment. There is a Maui where people live and and there is a Maui for tourists, and they are not the same place, and how that might play in here. I'd agree with that statement,

and it's something for a long time, residents of Lahaina, but also the indigenous people of these islands, the conversations around how dependent do we want to be on tourism moving forward. Many residents, local and Native Hawaiian are also employees of the tourism industry. It's something we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic when the travel ban was up and none of these workers were able to put food on their table. When the travel restrictions first started, thousands of hotel workers were furloughed. As time goes on, we're seeing more and more of those furloughs turn into layoffs.

And I think some in the community are seeing it as that, an opportunity to have a voice in how we rebuild in Lahaina. It will be a complicated and nuanced conversation, but it will be part of the conversation as we rebuild. What does the recovery effort look like right now? Neighbors helping neighbors, offering everything they can, food, water, clothing. I spoke to a Hilo pilot, young man, just got his pilot license and decided to take a helicopter over with donated goods to Kapalua Airport there in Lahaina. We heard of boat captains on pretty much every island, Kauai, Oahu here, Molokai, taking over loads of donated goods and anything that the community needs.

I'd say that many of these communities have encountered their own natural disasters. I'm thinking of the 2018 eruption of lava in Kilauea on the Big Island. For weeks around the clock, we watched Kilauea spew one billion cubic yards of lava, destroying some 700 homes. 2018 flooding over on the north shore of Kauai. Record-breaking rain fell on Kauai last weekend and the governor declared a state of emergency. Hundreds were stranded and had to be rescued. Instances where the community didn't question whether or not they were going to wait to help,

and so I don't think many of the community members who are lending a hand at this point are wondering where the government is. They know that regardless of who's helping out, they're going to jump into it. I think the devastation and the loss and the level and extent of it is something we have not seen and I have not seen throughout my reporting career. And so just that magnitude of some of the raw emotions, you know, coming out of Lahaina in the first couple days of the devastation, that will definitely stay with me.

That sense of loss will stick with me. banding together to help everyone in Lahaina get through this is possibly about the more inspirational and empowering story that I hope will be reported on in the next few weeks, if not months. Kuwehi Hiraishi of Hawaii Public Radio. Coming up, how Maui got hit with a perfect storm. Support for Today Explained comes from Ramp. is the corporate card and spend management software designed to help you save time and put money back in your pocket. Ramp says they give finance teams unprecedented control and insight into company spend. With Ramp, you're able to issue cards to every employee with limits and restrictions and automate expense reporting

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Yeah, so the fires were just breaking out basically the day that I was flying back to the East Coast. So it's been quite a whirlwind to try to keep up with everything. And my heart absolutely goes out to Maui. Abby, how did the fires in Maui get so bad? The fires in Maui are due to several different factors. The number one factor that led these fires to be so severe is the presence of large areas of very flammable non-native grasses. That was combined with very high winds due to a hurricane passing to the south and a high pressure system to the north. So we had very high downslope winds that fueled the fire and

caused it to spread quickly. And the other factor here is that they had actually been in drought for the last month or so, and that helped dry out all of those grasses and create the fuels needed for this massive fire that we saw. Let's go in reverse order there. So conditions were dry. Is Maui in the middle of a drought? The entire island of Maui is in abnormally dry or worse conditions. And there's a pretty large part of the island that's actually in severe drought. Drought is actually a pretty normal natural phenomenon that occurs in Hawaii.

We have a pretty pronounced dry season from about May to October. So having a drought by itself is not abnormal. But we have found that over the last century, droughts have been getting worse. They've been getting more severe, and they've been lasting longer. Brown mountains, cracked dry land. Hawaii is once again experiencing drought conditions. Portions of each of the Hawaiian islands are impacted, but Maui's being hit the hardest. And then the next factor you talked about was high winds caused by a hurricane. I think you're saying a hurricane didn't hit Maui, but it was getting like the, what was it getting the tail end of something? a pretty pronounced high pressure system and you get a gradient where the wind is moving from high

to low and a really strong category four hurricane means that you have this very strong gradient. So winds were moving very quickly and we had pretty incredible wind gusts. Never anticipated in this state that hurricane, which did not make impact on our islands, will cause this type of wildfires. Okay, so the wind blows the fire. And you said the third reason, large areas of non-native grass. What does that mean? How does that contribute to a really bad fire? About 25% of Hawaii's land area is covered in non-native grasses and shrubs. Many of them are species from African savannas, and they are extremely flammable. They have essentially taken over the fallow plantation lands across Maui, and those lands are not being managed the same way as when they were active agricultural plantations.

So now you just have these large, large areas of very flammable grasses. And sometimes those areas are very close to communities. So to have a wildfire, you need climate, you need an ignition, and you need fuels. In this case with the Maui fires, we had the perfect weather conditions to support that fire. Likely it was the strong winds knocking over power lines that may have contributed to the ignition part. And then what you need is fuel. And these grasses supply the fuels for these fires. So Hawaii presumably is prepared for certain kinds of disasters. Why does it seem that Maui was so unprepared for fires? Wildfires have been more common in Hawaii in the last few decades.

And we've seen some really massive fires that have affected especially Maui, but also the other islands as well. You know, we have some amazing groups on the ground who have been working to try to reduce fire risk across the landscape. There are groups that are working to build fire fuel breaks to help slow down or stop fires. The nonprofit group Team Rubicon brought in military veteran volunteers and equipment to create a fire break that's 545 yards long. They're clearing trees, grass and debris that could serve as fuel for a fire. A fuel break is essentially an area where you have essentially a gap in vegetation, let's say a road. And in theory, you know, the lack of more fuels, more grasses for that fire to continue, it could hopefully stop the fire. Last year, volunteers put in a fire break behind the nurseries in the valley.

And now a second one is going in behind the homes of Mariner's Cove. You have some folks that are using livestock to help graze and bring down those fire fuels, but it's happening without very many resources. And one thing that's really changed in recent years is the closure of these plantations. It's the end of an era for Hawaii's sugar industry as the final sugar harvest in our state took place on Maui. When the plantations were active, if a fire occurred on the landscape, it probably wasn't going to be as bad because you were irrigating a lot of the land.

But you also had staff on site who could open the gates and let the firefighters in. They knew where the roads were. Now everything is overgrown and covering just these vast areas. And so it's really, really hard to keep these fires under control. And what are the resources that Hawaii needs to deal with this? You said there's a shortage of resources. What exactly would be useful? Well, we need a planning process to really identify how to make Hawaii more resilient to wildfire and how to reduce this risk. I think it's going to take dedicated money

and supporting the groups that are already doing this work and doing more of this work to reduce the fuels. We can try to bring down the number of these grasses on the landscape, and it's going to take effort and money put towards this issue. The scale of this problem is just massive because these grasses literally cover a quarter of Hawaii's land area. I mean, it's not like you can take a lawnmower and go and clear these areas out. It's really difficult terrain. So you have organizations like the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization and other nonprofits and different agencies that are taking on this work on their own. And so some of it is creating different kinds of fuel breaks.

That's a really great tactic, but we have to scale it up. When you look at what happened in Maui and the conditions that allowed it to happen, are there other environments in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world where you think, oh, that place is prone to this type of wildfire and people may not be paying attention to it, but they should be. Definitely other Pacific islands. Just as people may be unaware that Hawaii has a lot of wildfire risk, many Pacific islands actually experience very severe wildfires. Indonesian authorities say satellites have detected 3,600 fires in the region. Areas that I work in, in Guam and Palau, they experience fires that burn

huge percentages of their land area each year. In one really bad El Nino year, I think 10% of the island of Guam burned in one year. So you have these, you know, savanna grasses and you have populations living on close to these wildfire risk areas on small islands. And with hotter and drier conditions in the future, wildfire risk could happening on a baseline of climate change and future projections show that Maui and Hawaii will become hotter in the future. Our dry leeward areas will likely experience more drying in the future. So wildfire risk is not fully going away. And if we continue to not actively manage these invasive grasslands across the state,

then we can expect fire risk to continue and continue to threaten communities. But I think here where we have a really important opportunity is that we can actually manage these grasslands. So that to me is very hopeful. We just need to act. That was Abby Frazier. She's a climatologist at Clark University. Today's show was produced by Siona Petros and Halima Shah. It was edited by Amina El-Sadi.

David Herman and Christian Ayala were our engineers. Laura Bullard is our fact checker. I'm Noelle King. It's Today Explained. Thank you.