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Reading follow-up articles by Mainland journalists about Lahaina's devastating wildfire, you would think our island was caught by surprise that the picturesque harbor town was a fire risk.
The enormity of its loss of life and property certainly surpasses everyone's imagination, but Lahaina's vulnerability was no secret. The town has been engaged in a deadly dance with windswept flames for many decades, probably stretching to before it was the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom.
In an interview held in her Lahaina oceanfront yard nearly a quarter of a century ago, the late Pua Lindsey told a story of a fire warning system located high on the mountain in the early 1900s. She said it was a stone whistle designed to alert plantation workers and residents of dangerous winds cresting the mountain and gaining speed as they raced downhill. When the whistle sounded, she said, it was time to douse all fires in foundries, boilers and kitchens.
Fast forward to 2009 and a Natural Hazards Map published by the Maui County Planning Department's Long-Range Planning Division, which identifies all of Lahaina as a fire high-risk zone. Also marked in red as high risk on that map are Kahului, Wailuku, Kihei, Kaanapali, Olowalu and Launiupoko.
In 2018, Hurricane Lane spawned a windswept fire above Lahaina that consumed more than 20 structures and 30 vehicles. It did not reach the commercial district, but Maui firefighters told us it had been close. Before this month's fire claimed 2,200 structures and at least 115 lives -- but likely more to come -- we occasionally asked fire personnel to name areas they worried about most. Maui Meadows and Launiupoko would get mentions due to their dry surrounding fields and few roadways in and out, but Lahaina always topped the list.
We knew. Everyone from county and state officials to Hawaiian Electric either knew or should have known. That is not to say there were no plans or safeguards in place. It reminds us of boxer Mike Tyson's famous quote about how quickly schemes can turn sour. "Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." What a punch we took.
Maui County must put the lessons of this fire to use, not only in the future rebuild of Lahaina, but in the present to better protect all of Maui's at-risk communities. There must be a renewed commitment to fire prevention and response, both governmentally and individually. It means enhanced escape routes and buffer zones, better construction methods and materials. It means being able to function when the power is shut off. It means clearing gulches, yards and vacant lots of fuel. It means putting money toward equipment, personnel and training.
We have never been able to confirm Lindsey's story about the stone whistle, but if anybody knows where it is, please dust it off and take it to the mountain. Maui must have a redundancy of effective warning systems and a willingness to use them.