IB: The Hawaiian wildfire crisis exposes three major ills of American society

Chinanews.com, Aug. 18 (Wei Chenxi) -- The crisis brought about by the Maui fire in the U.S. state of Hawaii continues, the country's worst wildfire in a century, which has killed 111 people, destroyed thousands of buildings and almost disappeared from the island's famous seaside resort town of Lahaina.

Behind the raging wildfires and heavy damage, it is precisely the three major ills of American society: the failure of public utilities, the failure of government response, and the disregard for people's safety.

Former US President Trump criticized, "Sadly, this fire should not have happened at all, the US government was not prepared and, very importantly, the consequences were very bad." ”

Utility disability:

The cause of the fire may involve the power company

According to The New York Times, preliminary reports suggest that sparks from wires operated by local electricity supplier Hawaiian Electric may have caused fires.

CNN pointed out that Robert Marshall, CEO of Whisker Labs, a US grid data collection and analysis company, said that 122 short circuits were detected on the local utility grid on the night of the fire, one of which may produce electric sparks and cause a fire.

Hawaiian Electric Power spokesman Jim Kelly declined to respond to Whisker Labs' findings.

Meanwhile, Hawaiian Electric has come under increasing scrutiny for not cutting off power before the stormy weather hits.

Now, three law firms have filed a class-action lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Company on behalf of the victims, accusing the company of failing to cut off power before the stormy weather hit. One of the company's substations had previously collapsed power lines, and the incident occurred near the original fire site.

State and local officials have not yet determined the cause of the fire, but the conditions are similar to those caused by electric appliances elsewhere in the United States: dry bushes, strong winds and aging infrastructure.

The analysis pointed out that many fatal fires in the United States were caused by the power poles or other buildings carrying power lines of the country's utility companies being blown down, or caused by other power line failures.

In addition, Maui experienced multiple power outages during the fire crisis, leaving many residents unable to receive emergency alerts from the authorities via mobile phones. Hawaii Governor Green had said about 2,000 homes and businesses in the area suffered power cuts after the fires, according to the Associated Press.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said on the 11th that she will "conduct a comprehensive review of key decisions and long-term policies before, during and after the wildfires in Maui and the Hawaiian Islands."

Government response to failure:

Ignore warnings and lag in response

As the death toll from the Hawaiian fire rose and local people blamed the government for its inadequate response to the massive fire.

In the early morning of the 9th, the historic coastal town of Lahaina on Maui was almost completely destroyed by the rapidly spreading fire, and survivors said they had received no warning.

The Los Angeles Times notes that there is plenty of evidence that Hawaiian government officials should be aware of the risk of wildfires on Maui. Maui is not the first fire to occur, and the Maui Mitigation Program has warned of past storms. However, no fatalities have been caused by previous wildfires, which could lead to complacency among Hawaiian officials.

In fact, the authorities also have more time to sound the alarm. According to a statement released on social media on the 8th, on the day of the fire, firefighters had about 9 hours to respond from the "fire" to the "obvious outbreak" of the fire. But firefighters have yet to say what happened during this critical period.

Local officials also did not explain why the evacuation of the city was not ordered immediately after the first fire was reported in Lahaina in the morning, especially when weather conditions for the fire were already taken into account. Many local residents said they had not been warned to evacuate in advance.

Hawaii states described the risk of wildfires to local residents as "low" in its 2022 emergency management plan.

The media and local residents criticized Maui Emergency Management Agency Director Herman Andaya for his lack of response to the accident. But Andaya expressed no regret for not triggering the sirens when the fire threatened the more than 12,000 inhabitants of the town of Lahaina. On the 17th, Andaya announced his resignation on health grounds.

Lopez said in a written statement on the 17th that she would appoint a private third-party agency to participate in the investigation of the deadly wildfire and review the actions of state and county officials at the time.

According to the US "Capitol Hill" report, because US President Biden was on vacation during the devastating fire on Maui and had said that he would "not comment", the White House faced widespread criticism.

Former US President Trump bluntly said, "The US government is not prepared for this disaster, and Biden's refusal to comment on the Maui tragedy is 'shameful'." ”

Disregard for people's safety:

Indigenous human rights are not guaranteed

The New York Times noted that the fire also exposed Hawaii's deficiencies in weathering the shock, noting that lack of local building standards and aging infrastructure make the state more vulnerable to wildfires.

The state lacks building standards to protect local buildings from wildfires, such as requiring the use of refractories and construction techniques or keeping space free of flammable vegetation around buildings, the analysis said.

Green issued an order in July blocking the state's new, stricter standards for construction, saying "the move is necessary to address the severe housing shortage in the region."

Michelle Steinberg, director of the National Fire Association's wildfire division, said it's common in the U.S. to refuse to adopt strict building code standards on affordability, even at the expense of public safety.

In addition, the British "Guardian" pointed out that the local industrial windfall economy has further lost the water storage capacity of the perennially arid Hawaiian state, aggravating the outbreak of the fire crisis.

Maui's waters have been exploited for more than a century, the analysis said. Locally, large corporations and real estate developers have a vested interest in creating large plantations, luxury complexes, luxury resorts and golf courses, which have been demanding and depleting the natural water of indigenous ecosystems, and now the fires could lead to even more destructive "water theft".

Until now, many Maui Aboriginal people still do not have water to meet their basic needs, including drinking water, laundry and irrigation of traditional crops. Locally, it is reported that it is common for streams flowing through the valley to be diverted to serve luxury residential areas, leaving many indigenous families without access to water from local water pipes, fire hydrants and paved roads to help them escape the fires.

The analysis notes that the climate emergency has deepened tensions between indigenous peoples and capitalists, and has exacerbated the war over scarce water, including critical firefighting water. Green acknowledged that "water management" was the "culprit" behind the lack of water used to fight fires in this disaster.

Source: China News Network