Maui County sued Hawaiian Electrical Firm on Thursday over the fires that devastated the city of Lahaina, saying the utility negligently did not shut off energy regardless of exceptionally excessive winds and dry situations.
Witness accounts and video indicated that sparks from energy strains ignited fires as utility poles snapped within the winds, which have been pushed by a passing hurricane.
The Aug. 8 hearth killed not less than 115 individuals and left an unknown variety of others lacking.
Had the utility heeded climate service “warnings and de-energized their powerlines through the predicted high-wind gusts, this destruction might have been averted,” the lawsuit mentioned.
A spokesperson for Hawaiian Electrical did not instantly reply to an e mail in search of remark.
Many Lahaina wildfire survivors say that they had no official warning earlier than the blaze was upon them. Because the variety of individuals killed continues to rise, Andrew Chang explains why there are rising questions in regards to the emergency response.
The lawsuit mentioned the utility had an obligation “to correctly keep and restore the electrical transmission strains, and different gear together with utility poles related to their transmission of electrical energy, and to maintain vegetation correctly trimmed and maintained in order to forestall contact with overhead energy strains and different electrical gear.”
The utility knew that top winds “would topple energy poles, knock down energy strains, and ignite vegetation,” the lawsuit mentioned. “Defendants additionally knew that if their overhead electrical gear ignited a hearth, it could unfold at a critically speedy price.”
![A man looks down at the remains of a charred apartment complex in the aftermath of a wildfire.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.6935224.1691919647!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/1595201069.jpg)
The lawsuit notes different utilities, akin to Southern California Edison Firm, Pacific Fuel & Electrical and San Diego Fuel & Electrical, have all carried out Public Security Energy Shutoffs throughout throughout excessive wind occasions and mentioned the “extreme and catastrophic losses … might have simply been prevented” if Hawaiian Electrical had the same shutoff plan.