Posted on 08/30/2023 3:54:00 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
HONOLULU - Three weeks after a wall of fire claimed at least 115 lives and turned historic Lahaina to ash, Maui County’s highest-ranking official said he didn’t know who was calling the shots at the county’s Emergency Management Center the day the town burned.
“I’m not sure who was in charge. (Former Maui Emergency Management Administrator) Herman Andaya was still in charge. He just wasn’t present. He was in contact with his team. I guess by phone. I don’t know exactly how,” Bissen said, during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
When questioned about his whereabouts that day, Bissen said he attended a virtual meeting with other state and county leaders that morning to discuss the multiple brush fires that had broken out on Hawaii Island and Maui. But he wouldn’t tell reporters where he was the rest of the day.
“I don’t have that. I don’t have that for you,” he said.
He also couldn’t explain why the head of Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency, Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, wasn’t notified anyone had died until the following day. “I don’t know who spoke to General Hara,” Bissen said. “That’s my answer to your question.”
A reporter then asked Hara: “We don’t know how many people maybe died waiting for a response. You don’t think there was anything your agency could have done?”
Hara responded: “Personally, I don’t think so.”
For weeks Hawaii News Now Now has been asking questions on who was in charge of Maui's Emergency Command Center the night of the deadly fire.
(Excerpt) Read more at hawaiinewsnow.com ...
Anyone know why someone is putting up a fence/wall around the burned out areas and who the foreign “police” are?
Democrats in charge in Hawaii: Not my job man
#22 Th clintons wanted the gold there. obama wanted to help the terrorists take.
Qadaffi spoke of the AU going on a gold standard African dollar.
Next thing you know…
#59 it was 5 months before that they tested the sirens.
18% failed so I guess their solution was to just turn OFF ALL the sirens....
I understand, but to have so many stupid people do the exact stupid thing is unlikely.
I couldn’t have designed it better.
No way numerous retards got everything right…
sioux city was a training area for b-17 pilots, including my father. he told me that pilot training b-17 crashes there were a frequent occurrence.
Because it would be the right thing to do.
For once.
Response timeline will not be released, Maui County officials say
Peter Boylan
Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Aug. 30, 2023
(note: one comment claims that a timeline will not be released by the county until compelled by the state AG
investigation at the behest of Gov. Green, and therefore instigating that investigation was a big mistake by Gov. Green)
Lahaina Fire and Evacuation Timeline
BelievingDisbeliever
Aug. 12, 2023
https://www.reddit.com/r/Hawaii/comments/15ok86f/comment/jvtnn6t/
(note: even though lacking some details that officials have not yet released, this is the most comprehensive attempt at a timeline for the lahaina fire that i have seen so far)
Maui mayor faces calls to resign as questions about county’s wildfire response grow
Allyson Blair
Hawaii News Now
Aug. 30, 2023 at 9:21 PM PDT|Updated: 21 hours ago
This is the maui emergency management agency division web page:
https://www.mauicounty.gov/70/Emergency-Management-Agency
at this moment, there is no department director. herman andaya was the previous director who resigned one week after the lahaina fire. apparently he had been in that position since 2018. there department is summarily described in the maui county charter, section 8, chapter 16 (p. 37):
https://www.mauicounty.gov/DocumentCenter/View/139187/CHARTER-—January-2023
the entire department is described in a single short paragraph. there is no description of a director or deputy director. the department is supervised by the fire and public safety commission (not the mayor directly). the commission is appointed by the mayor with the approval of the county council.
mayor bessin took office about 8 months ago.
imho if there is no formal director described in the charter, the director seems not to have any formal duties, including hiring and firing personnel, and can only make recommendations to the commission (this could lead to an administrative problem within the agency imho.) in addition, the director seems to have no formal deputy director to assist him in external or internal matters, or to take over responsibility during his absence or vacation.
there is no indication of how many employees there are in the department, or its budget.
VIDEO: Maui mayor gives timeline of what he did during start of Maui fires
Elizabeth Ufi
KHON2 TV
Aug 31, 2023 / 06:59 PM HST
Bissen said he wasn’t aware of deaths in Lahaina until morning after devastating blaze
HawaiiNewsNow
Aug. 31, 2023
Mayor details county response in early hours of fire
COLLEEN UECHI
Maui News
AUG 31, 2023
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