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Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced Thursday the investigation of the wildfire that devastated Maui in 2023 won’t lead to any criminal charges. The announcement comes a month after a 300-page report was presented by the Maui Fire Department outlining the exact cause and origin of the fire that burned down more than 2,000 structures, mostly homes, and killed more than 100 people.
Through two phases of an investigation, the Fire Safety Research Institute was able to pinpoint communications problems among the agencies responsible for fire and safety response, and a second phase of the investigation analyzed the lack of planning and preparation and the challenges those presented during the fire response. Just last month, investigators released a report stating there was “no evidence” Hawaii officials had made preparations for the fire even after warnings of a critical fire threat had been given just days before the August 8 blaze.
“The report reveals no single factor led to the devastation. Instead, a complex set of factors including weather and its impacts, risk and preparedness, decades-old infrastructure, organizational structure and incident management and coordination created a historic disaster,” Lopez said back in September.
On Thursday, Lopez added to that sentiment when she announced no criminal charges would be filed.
“Instead, the investigation revealed many instances of great heroism, and I wish to particularly commend Maui’s firefighters and police officers for their professionalism and bravery in extremely difficult circumstances,” the statement said.
The Attorney General’s next phase is preparing a new report addressing ways to avoid another fire like this in the future.
In September, the 300-page report presented by the Maui Fire Department and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives determined that the blaze unfolded in two phases, first starting with a downed power line fire that MFD put out early in the morning, then spreading several hours later when embers from that earlier fire were reignited and swept up by strong winds.
“We want to make abundantly clear to the community that our firefighters went above and beyond their due diligence to be as confident as they could be that the fire was completely extinguished before they left the scene,” Maui Assistant Chief Jeffrey Giesea said at the time.
