MEMA’s new headquarters ‘will save lives,’ mayor says
New emergency operations center reflects lessons learned after 2023 wildfire
Trending
The Maui County Emergency Management Agency is preparing to move into a new headquarters that leadership says will put the agency "lightyears" ahead of where it currently is.
On Thursday, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen joined MEMA Administrator Amos Lonokailua-Hewett and Deputy Administrator Kono Davis as they offered members of the media a sneak peek of the new Maui Emergency Operations Center in Wailuku.
The new space stands as a massive upgrade from the current EOC by almost any measurement. "Really, to understand how transformative this location is, you almost have to know about the original EOC we have at the county building," Bissen said.
Where MEMA employees have been working out of cramped close quarters in a single room with limited space, the new layout is much bigger and will better serve their needs.
Altogether, the new MEOC features 9,355 square feet of space on two floors, with more than 8,900 square feet on the third floor of the building. Once operational, the new MEOC will have the capacity for 198 people, which is up from the current capacity of 52.
The current Maui Emergency Operations Center is shown at the Kalana O Maui Building in Wailuku. Eli Pace/The Maui News
The project began with the purchase of the property under a prior administration in 2020, and the heart of the new MEOC is its primary situation room, which has been designed to bring different "sections" together -- things like executive, planning, operations and human services -- while giving them all adequate room to work. There's a lot of new tech to back them up too.
The main room has dozens of individual work stations set up to face a large "video board" composed of 24 flat-screen monitors arranged in two side-by-side rows of 12.
The monitors can function together, in small groups or display information independently, and the people at the work stations can easily put information from their computers, cell phones and tablet screens up on the big display for everyone to see.
The 24-display video wall is meant to give MEMA and its partners a real-time picture of what's happening during an emergency and thus a better ability to analyze information as it comes in and coordinate countywide response efforts.
Maui County Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Kono Davis discusses the layout of the new Maui Emergency Operations Center’s 24-screen video wall during a media tour of the facility. Eli Pace/The Maui News
On another wall are three more large monitors with similar capabilities. There is also a full kitchen, a lounge, a computer server room, multiple offices, a more secure entrance and a few conference rooms, each with large monitors and video conference abilities, at the new MEOC.
"So, so many upgrades, but really, what I want to leave you with is: This is the place that will save lives for our community," Bissen said. "The situational awareness is probably 25 times what we had before, if I’m judging by the size and the number of screens. So this location will really be able to see a lot of what’s happening around our community."
According to MEMA leadership, the new MEOC will be the most technologically advanced emergency operations center in Hawaii when it opens next month.
Learning from 2023
In many ways, the new EOC has been designed to address some of the failures that led to the devastating wildfire in August 2023 that killed more than 100 people and destroyed a large part of Lahaina.
Following the destruction and loss of life, the Hawaii attorney general sought an independent review of the 2023 Maui wildfires. The probe found that MEMA only partially activated the EOC on Aug. 7 because of severe weather, and just two MEMA employees staffed it overnight, even as calls steadily escalated with multiple fires burning across Maui.
The report also describes how agency representatives gradually arrived throughout the day Aug. 8 and how the EOC was not fully activated until 4:30 p.m. that evening, after the Lahaina fire was already rapidly spreading.
The post-disaster investigation also says MEMA came into the disaster understaffed and with limited resources. That combined with a loss of electrical power, widespread cellular and wireline outages, inadequate warnings and rapidly evolving conditions all made the response effort that much more challenging.
The report also says the responding agencies were not operating from a strong unified command, and one recurring recommendation is for stronger coordination.
"I want everyone to know that (the new MEOC) is us learning from the lessons of 2023, listening to the investigations and the after-action reports and the long-term recovery plans, and taking those things into consideration and actually developing a pathway to connect and solve all of those those issues that we had as an agency," said Lonokailua-Hewett, who became MEMA's administrator in 2024.
20260724_MauiEOC_Blessing-4(1)
An increase in activations
It's really not a question of if Maui County will face another disaster, but when and, perhaps more importantly, how.
The Maui County EOC has been activated 92 times since 2024, including more than two dozen times so far this year. Over the last two years, the MEOC has been activated for a tsunami warning, multiple wildfires, historic flooding, a hurricane warning and even large-scale electric vehicle battery removals, just to name a few.
Lonokailua-Hewett said the increased number of activations is a reflection of MEMA being more proactive.
"We are not waiting for fires to get away. We are not waiting for phone calls to fill our call center," he said. "We are connected in situational awareness. As the mayor also said, we are connected with our partners, we are connected with our community, and we are posturing early."
That means MEMA's employees are also spending more time in the MEOC, he added.
And while growing the space it works out of, MEMA has also built up its staff.
MEMA has gone from nine funded positions in 2024 to its current staff of 25 positions. Additionally, six more positions have been approved, and Lonokailua-Hewett said he expects those to be filled by Jan. 1, 2027. The expanded staffing includes dedicated positions for finance, hazard mitigation and external affairs sections.
"What that does, it just gives us a minimum amount of people to address the critical needs of emergency management programs, including preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation," Lonokailua-Hewett said.
During activations, coordination is key because so many different departments, organizations and agencies can be called upon depending on the scenario.
While police, firefighters and paramedics often serve in some of the most visible positions mitigating disasters, other county departments like parks and recreation, public works and water also frequently play critical roles during an MEOC activation.
Also, state and federal officials, entities like Hawaiian Electric and nonprofits can get called in during disaster response and mitigation efforts.
Maui Emergency Management Agency employees gather in the new Maui Emergency Operations Center during a blessing ceremony. Photo courtesy Maui County
Other improvements
In addition to preparing to move into its new space, MEMA says it is nearing completion of 46 emergency plans covering everything from strategy, hazard mitigation, comprehensive emergency management, integrated preparedness, and training and exercise.
These plans are designed to be living documents that can be easily updated and quickly put into action as needed. They are basically a blueprint for what should happen under a number of potential disaster events.
Maui County has also implemented the Integrated Ladris AI, Genasys protect, Avigilon camera systems and AlertWest to boost situational awareness, public alerts, emergency coordination and real-time decision making.
County officials said the new facility, expanded staffing and revised emergency management practices are all intended to address shortcomings identified after the wildfire.
Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator Amos Lonokailua-Hewett discusses the new kitchen at the Maui Emergency Operations Center. The new facility includes expanded work areas, conference rooms and amenities intended to support around-the-clock emergency response. Eli Pace/The Maui News
Blessing ceremony
County, state and federal leaders, first responders and dignitaries gathered Friday for a blessing of the new MEOC. During the blessing, Maui County Department of ʻŌiwi Resources Deputy Director Kekai Robinson offered a pule, and Gov. Josh Green shared his support.
"The opening of Maui County's new Emergency Operations Center is an important step in making Maui Nui safer and more prepared," Green said. "Recent disasters have shown us how important it is for emergency teams to work together and have the right tools in place. This new center will help first responders and emergency managers share information and act quickly when people need help."
The project to develop the new MEOC began under a prior administration in 2020 with the purchase of the property.
"This day is the result of many years of hard work by many people," Lonokailua-Hewett said. "I am grateful to everyone who helped move this project forward. Many hands, across different administrations, departments and agencies, helped bring us to this moment. Our MEMA team understands the kuleana we have to serve our community. We will continue working every day to strengthen preparedness and help protect the people of Maui Nui."