On August 8th, 2023, wildfires in Lahaina, Maui County occurred. These fires then began to spread to the rest of Maui County, causing thousands of people to immediately evacuate their homes. Officials have stated that at least 115 people have died, many of these victims being children, while up to 1,100 people in Maui have been reported missing during these fires. Wildfires this disastrous can have many different origins, such as lack of rain, someone not putting out their cigarette, or power lines getting knocked down by strong winds and falling on trees which then causes the fire to spread abnormally fast. According to CBS News, many Hawaiians believe that these wildfires were caused by power lines, due to the fact that Hawaiian Electric Company did not turn off power lines despite the high winds and dry weather conditions. On August 24th, Maui County sued Hawaiian Electric, claiming that they could have prevented these fires. In response to getting sued, Hawaiian Electric officials have said “Our primary focus in the wake of this unimaginable tragedy has been to do everything we can to support not just the people of Maui, but also Maui County, we are very disappointed that Maui County chose this litigious path while the investigation is still unfolding.”
Maui councilwoman, Tamara Platin, urges tourists not to come to Lahaina, even if they still have reservations or are on vacation, as said in Time Magazine. “We don’t want to be seeing people on vacation when we’re trying to pull our lives back together. We don’t want our roads closed because tourists can’t follow directions”, she said while being asked about tourism in Maui, considering 80% of their economy is dependent on tourism. Even though these complaints have been made by Maui council members and citizens, tourists have still been going to Maui.
