MPD releases preliminary after-action report of Lahaina wildfire response
The Maui News
WAILUKU — The Maui Police Department (MPD) released a 99 page report on March 12, detailing actions taken by the department during the days of Aug. 8, 2023, through Aug. 9.
The report gives 32 detailed recommendations for MPD improvements for future disaster responses and outlines the actions and officer reports during the devastating wildfires that took place in four locations on the island last August. In addition to the 32 recommendations for disaster response improvement, seven identified failures were named (evacuation routes mismanagement, inadequate warning activation, misinformation on fire containment, unsafe shelter-in-place advisories, poor response coordination, post-fire road closures, and suspicion of martial law Implementation).
The 32 suggested improvements to response tactics ranged from having all officers issued optional ear pieces, to “review and make necessary amendments to General Order 301.2, and other related general orders, as to create policy and procedure on administrative notifications during unusual occurrences, natural disasters, and man-made disasters.”
The report was released ahead of Wednesday’s Disaster, Resilience, International Affairs, and Planning committee (DRIP) meeting where the findings and suggested improvements to disaster response will be discussed by the committee. The DRIP committee meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at the Council Chamber, Kalana O Maui Building, 8th Flr., 200 South High St., in Wailuku.
Maui Chief of Police, John Palletier starts the report off with an executive summary stating, “The purpose of this after-action report is to evaluate the effectiveness of police actions, identify strengths and areas for improvement, and make recommendations to enhance future natural disaster response efforts. To date, 32 recommendations have been put forward, many of which have been implemented or are in progress.”
According to Palletier, the preliminary after-action report provides a comprehensive overview of the police response to the recent wildfire incident that occurred on Aug. 8, 2023, its focus is primarily on the Lahaina fires.
Within the report, 10 firsthand accounts of MPD officers are given, accounts of radio communications received during the two initial days of the wildfires, and four witness accounts are provided.
According to the report, radio dispatchers responded to a total of 4,523 calls for service, spanning police, fire and medical emergencies on Aug. 8, 2023.
“At the peak of the incident, officer staffing reached 49 in the Lahaina District. These officers were experiencing critical events in front of them at the same time in multiple different locations, leading to a lot of information being aired over the radio. At most times, this radio traffic was being monitored by and responded to by a single dispatcher. Of note, on a typical day, radio channels will have at most 15 officers working over a single radio frequency,” the report states.
A map of all the locations of deceased victims is contained within the report. In addition, MPD stated they conducted a thorough investigation into reports of missing children and missing persons with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI). As of the publication of the report, only four missing person cases of the original 133 remain ongoing with the FBI, according to the preliminary report.
“With respect to misinformation regarding large numbers of missing children, investigators contacted the Department of Education to verify if there were any children missing from their rosters. The DOE was able to contact all of their students, including those that left the island and/ or state. In addition, the FBI also investigated the many false statements made by various persons regarding any missing children and other persons. This would lead to the MPD/FBI unaccounted for list.”
The report concludes with the statement, “Now, here we stand, amid destruction and chaos, with an opportunity to write a new story. That story is told through the Maui Strong patch to exemplify the courage in vulnerability and honor the lives of those who were lost and to pay tribute to those left to rebuild. A story for which time will be still.”