By Michael Biesecker, Jennifer McDermott and Bernard Condon | Associated Press Melted remains of an old car tire. Heavily burned trees. A charred stump of an abandoned utility pole. Investigators a…
By Michael Biesecker, Jennifer McDermott and Bernard Condon | Associated Press
But as investigators sift through blackened debris to explain the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century, one fact has become clear: Hawaiian Electric’s right-of-way was untrimmed and unkempt for years, despite being in an area classified as being at high risk for wildfires. Though findings of a cause are not expected for months, the focus on Hawaiian Electric’s role in managing brush in its right-of-way could strengthen claims of negligence against the utility, which is facing an onslaught of lawsuits blaming it for failing to proactively cut electricity in the face of high-wind warnings, upgrade its power poles and clear foliage from around its lines.
The landowner, Kamehameha Schools, run by a $15 billion educational endowment and also named in litigation over the Maui fire, told AP it has “no control over and cannot interfere with” Hawaiian Electric’s equipment in the right-of-way but “never had any objection” to the utility doing work to keep the area safe from its poles and lines.
While experts cautioned the right-of-way was full of places where embers could fester, they noted that these larger items stood out because the second fire erupted hours later, and stumps and roots have been known to keep embers glowing a long time, in some cases weeks. As the AP first reported last month, videos taken by two Lahaina homeowners on Aug. 8 show that utility poles and lines along Lahainaluna Road were snapped by strong winds shortly after 6:30 a.m., igniting tall grass and brush below. Maui County firefighters arrived within minutes and began dousing the flames.
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