Emergency services chief on Maui resigns. He faced criticism for not activating sirens during fire
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Outdoor alert sirens on Maui stayed silent as a ferocious fire devastated the seaside community of Lahaina last week. The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency said he had no regrets about not deploying the system as a warning to people on the island.
A day after making that statement, Administrator Herman Andaya resigned Thursday. Andaya had said he feared blaring the sirens during the blaze could have caused people to go “mauka,” using a navigational term that can mean toward the mountains or inland in Hawaiian.
“If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire,” Andaya explained.
But the decision not use the sirens, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route that became clogged with vehicles that were o...