Maui wildfire News

US Sets Record for Billion-Dollar Weather Disasters in a Year, with 4 Months to Go

The deadly firestorm in Hawaii and Hurricane Idalia`s watery storm surge helped push the United States to a record for the number of weather disasters that cost $1 billion or more. And there`s still four months to go on what`s …

Lawyers Claim Cable TV and Phone Companies Liable in Fires

HONOLULU (AP) — After a visit to a warehouse where Hawaiian Electric Company is housing power poles and electrical equipment that may be key to the investigation of last month`s devastating fires on Maui, lawyers for Lahaina residents and business …

Hawaii Electric Takes Responsibility for First Fire on Maui, But Faults Firefighters

Hawaii’s electric utility acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire on Maui but faulted county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and leaving the scene, only to have a second wildfire break out nearby and become the deadliest in the …

Bare Electrical Wire and Leaning Poles on Maui Were Possible Cause of Deadly Fires

In the first moments of the Maui fires, when high winds brought down power poles, slapping electrified wires to the dry grass below, there was a reason the flames erupted all at once in long, neat rows — those wires …

Shareholders Sue Hawaiian Electric Over Maui Wildfires

Shareholders of Hawaiian Electric HE.N on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the utility provider in a San Francisco federal court, alleging the company’s failure to disclose important information about its wildfire prevention and safety protocols. Hawaiian’s protocols and procedures were …

County of Maui Sues Hawaiian Electric for Negligence Leading to Wildfires

The county of Maui, Hawaii, on Thursday sued Hawaiian Electric HE.N accusing the power company of acting negligently by failing to shut down its equipment despite warnings hurricane winds could knock power lines down, sparking wildfires. The county said downed …

RLI Sees Up to $75 Million in Catastrophe Losses from Hawaiian Wildfires in Q3

Property and casualty insurer RLI Corp said on Wednesday it expects to record pretax net catastrophe losses of between $65 million and $75 million from Hawaiian wildfires in the third quarter of 2023. Wildfires earlier this month on Hawaii’s Maui, …

Maui Fire Victims Pursue Legal Tactic That Led to $13.5 Billion California Settlement

Hawaii property owners are seizing on a legal shortcut used by fire victims in California to secure compensation from Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. for damages following the fires that ravaged Maui. The strategy, which doesn’t require proving negligence, helped push …

Maui Fire Lays Bare Utility Missteps Mirrored Across the Country

When flames ripped through the drought-parched town of Paradise in 2018, destroying homes and killing 85 in California’s deadliest-ever wildfire, it was a wake-up call to power companies across the country. Electric lines would ultimately be blamed for the blaze, …

FEMA Payouts Thus Far Top $5.6 Million in Maui; Amount Expected to Grow Significantly

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday it has approved more than $5.6 million in assistance to nearly 2,000 households in Maui so far as the federal government tries to help survivors of the devastating wildfires. The White House and …