HONOLULU (KHON) – A long-awaited report concluded that the deadly 2023 fire that killed at least 102 people and razed much of historic Lahaina was actually caused by a smaller blaze that firefighters believed they had fully extinguished that morning.
"The origin and cause of the Lahaina fire is clear. The re-energization of broken power lines caused sparks that ignited unmaintained vegetation in the area. Exactly how this fire rekindled in the afternoon is considered undetermined with multiple plausible hypotheses fitting the known data," said Maui Fire Department Chief Brad Ventura in a news conference releasing the report details.
The report, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), stated that the massive wildfire was caused by a single, small fire at utility pole 25 off of Lahainaluna Road that started at 6:34 a.m. on Aug. 8, 2023.
The fire proceeded in two phases, with the first concluding just after 2 p.m. when fire crews left the scene of that fire after all indications showed that the fire had been fully contained and extinguished.
At 2:52 p.m. a rekindle event occurred in a gully next to the previous burn area.
"A piece of smoldering material hidden in the unmanaged vegetation in the adjacent gully was fueled and reignited by a severe wind event and the fire resumed with disastrous consequences," Ventura said.
While wind was the most likely cause of the fire's rekindling, the ATF's report said investigators could not rule out another possibility: that the operator of a bulldozer, trying to help firefighters contain the blaze, could have unwittingly pushed smoldering debris to the gully’s edge, only to have it erupt in flames hours later.
“The close proximity of the freshly cut firebreak to the western edge of the gully does not afford investigators the ability to rule out the possibility that while cutting the firebreak, the operator unknowingly moved still burning vegetation or smoldering debris into the gully,” the report said.
The owner of the company that provided the bulldozer told ATF investigators less than two weeks after the fire that he had shown up because a friend who lived nearby asked for help. The owner did not respond to several requests for a follow-up interview, the report said. Neither the owner nor members of his crew were identified in the report.
Video from inside the bulldozer showed it piling loose soil and burned vegetation at the edge of the gully, the report said.
Bulldozers driven by volunteers and contractors are frequently used to protect towns and farms from wildfires across the western U.S., though some groups have questioned their effectiveness in extreme weather conditions.
The fire is classified as accidental.
"We deeply regret that our operations contributed to the fire that ignited in the morning," Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) officials said in a statement. "Confronted by an extraordinary weather event and a chaotic situation, our employees brought their best efforts to their jobs, as they do every day."
The officials stressed that Maui firefighters had done all they could to put out the morning fire before leaving to address other calls for service on a day when other fires were burning around the island.
Experts found a series of other errors and oversights that may have contributed to the spread, however, including a lack of "electrical utility vegetation abatement" at the base of utility poles and near transmission lines, according to the Attorney Generalʻs investigation.
It had been unclear whether the blaze was a separate fire or a rekindling of the morning fire, and whether firefighters should have left the scene after they spent hours dousing it. The answers could prove significant to questions about liability for the destruction, though a tentative $4 billion settlement has been reached.
Thousands of Lahaina residents have sued various parties they believe to be at fault for the fire, including Hawaiian Electric, Maui County and the state of Hawaii. The defendants have often tried to point fingers at each other, with Hawaiian Electric saying the county shouldn't have left the first fire unattended, and Maui County contending the electric utility failed to take proper care with the power grid. Exactly who was responsible for clearing brush and maintaining area has also been a point of contention among the defendants, along with the utility's lack of a public safety power shut-off program.
“Our investigation determined that the fire started when a termite-infested pole snapped under the force of the wind and then HECO turned back on the power without first determining whether it was safe, which caused a fire,” said Aaron Creps, an attorney with Leavitt, Yamane and Soldner who is representing victims.
A few days before the one-year anniversary of the wildfires, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green announced the multi-billion-dollar settlement. That’s the amount the defendants — including Hawaiian Electric, the state, Maui County, large landowners and others — have agreed to pay to settle claims.
“I don’t think you’re going to find a single point of blame per se,” Gov. Josh Green said. “I think everyone has responsibility. That’s why the settlement of $4 billion was agreed to and why it needs to go forward.”
But the deal is tied up in court, awaiting a decision from Hawaii Supreme Court on whether insurance companies can go after the defendants separately to recoup what they’ve paid to policyholders. Lawyers for people seeking compensation fear allowing insurance companies to sue Hawaiian Electric and others will subvert the deal, drain what is available to pay fire victims and lead to prolonged litigation.
Jake Lowenthal, an attorney representing people suing over the fire, said the report didn't provide any information that would change their theory of liability in the case: that firefighters left the scene, that the utility didn’t maintain their equipment or have a power shutoff program, and that some large landowners left their properties untended with dry, overgrown vegetation that provided ample fuel for the blaze.
“Every piece of additional information allows the community to continue to heal,” Lowenthal said, "and allows us to move forward with how the fire was caused and how we can continue to protect the community to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
