He’s an insular idiot.
If that fire had approached the town at 2 am instead of 5 pm no one would dare say you can’t blare a siren because it’s not a tsunami. It’s shocking to know this many people died on their feet, and not in a deep slumber.
As Emergency Leader, he should have done his job training the public. It’s not the first fire in Maui, and all the islands have a dry side. Every time there is a public test, the “it’s a test” message should include the reminder that a siren is a general warning of danger. He’s not Tsunami leader, he’s Emergency leader.
It’s easy enough once you hear a siren to know you need to look at your phone, look at the tv, or open the curtains. No one runs towards smoke and flames. No one needs to memorize different chimes. Just sound the alarm. No one says there were even fire trucks blaring. Those people were on their own.
AND, fire is often a threat. A friend was telling me about his property on the big island, all homes in the development were equipped with pumps for their pool water and hoses for fire.