The historic town of Lahaina was destroyed by wildfires nearly six months ago. The Maui Police Department announced on Monday that it is working to improve its response to tragedies in the future, by acquiring better equipment and designating a high-ranking officer to be stationed in the communications center during emergencies on the island.
The Maui Police Department put in a great deal of effort, working with other emergency response organizations, to organize evacuations, protect the safety of our citizens, and assist those in need, the report said.
Many of the report’s recommendations call for better equipment and updates to technology, from getting officers earpieces they can use when high winds make it hard to hear their radios to equipping patrol cars with breaching kits to remove downed trees or utility poles from roadways.
Police Chief John Pelletier announced at a press conference on Monday that law enforcement agencies nationwide will receive copies of the after-action report to aid in their disaster preparedness. He defended its thoroughness, saying that it would not be finalized for up to a year to allow for the incorporation of proposals, and that it had been evaluated by two outside agencies.
Pelletier described the extensive efforts made to find the remains of three people who are still listed as missing in the wildfire.
“We created strategies of where they might have escaped to and then we sent anthropological teams to go to those estimated escape routes and then we got excavators to go through the rubble,” he said. “Any lead that is given to us, we will pursue, and the search is not over.”
The wildfire was driven by high winds from a hurricane passing far to the south and spread quickly through dry, invasive grasses.
Many videos from body cameras showed police going to great lengths to try to help. One officer sprinted from house to house, alerting people to the approaching inferno. Forty-two victims were found inside structures, 15 were found in cars, 39 were outdoors, and one person was found in the ocean, according to the report.
More than 50 victims were identified by collecting DNA from biological relatives, Sgt. Chase Bell told the news conference, but one person who was reported missing had no biological relative to provide a DNA sample.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
(With inputs from agency)
