Free Republic

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...

LAHAINA, Hawaii (FOX26) — Update: Herman Andaya has resigned from his position as Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator as of Thursday evening. Original Story: Maui Emergency Management Agency Administrator, Herman Andaya, spoke during a news conference Wednesday following the devastating fire in Maui, Hawaii. During the conference, a reporter asked if he regretted not sounding an alarm as a means of alerting those within the impacted area. His response: “I do not.”According to Andaya, the siren is mostly used for tsunamis, and sounding the alarm during the fire would have put more people in danger.“Had we sounded the siren that...

Emergency Management chief Herman Andaya defended his decision not to set off warning sirens as the deadly wildfire barreled toward Lahaina Andaya said Wednesday Hawaiians are trained to seek higher ground when they hear those sirens, which are usually used for tsunami warnings In the wake of the fire that killed at least 110 people, some are questioning Andaya's fitness for his positionThe man in charge of Maui's Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday he does not regret not activating warning sirens as the fatal wildfire swept across the island.Chief Herman Andaya said he opted to send out alerts via mobile...