> This is all correct, except the Lahaina fire started at 6:37 am, near Lahainaluna Road. Maui officials announced the fire was 100% contained at 9:55 am, but the Lahaina fire was never declared “extinguished.” This is when the water supply problems reportedly occured. Multiple witnesses reported that the firefighters stood and watched as the Lahaina fire spread.
> The fire that started at 6:37 am would end being the same fire that burned down the town.
I was discounting that as a somewhat finer point since the fire department had declared the initial 6:37 fire as 100% contained, and i had no information that this status still would have triggered a request for more water.
The letter’s author was Mr. Tremble according to this:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/18/us/hawaii-diverting-water-delay-maui-fires/index.html
the article seems to give contradictory information as to when the letter was sent, either before the fire reached the town proper, or after. i chose the charitable later time in my earlier response, but i could have chosen the less charitable earlier time. i imagine that an investigation might look into the exact time. however, the article notes that the water would be released into the land company’s reservoirs which are apparently not connected to the fire hydrants, so (as has been brought up in other discussions elsewhere) it is somewhat debatable whether permission would have had an appreciable beneficial impact on the overall outcome.
Any further information or corrections would be interesting.