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Maui’s emergency management chief, Herman Andaya, has resigned a day after
facing mounting public criticism for not activating public alert sirens as
devastating wildfires raged across swaths of the Hawaiian island.

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said he has “accepted the resignation of Maui
Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) Administrator Herman Andaya. Citing health
reasons, Andaya submitted his resignation effective immediately.”



“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing
someone in this key position as quickly as possible,” Bissen added.

Outdoor alert sirens are widespread on Maui, and residents have grown used to
hearing them activated for regular testing in anticipation of public emergencies
such as tsunamis and earthquakes. However, many residents have criticized the
decision by Andaya’s agency not to activate the sirens as the wildfires were
raging, saying it cost lives — especially those in the devastated historic town
of Lahaina.

So far, at least 111 people have died in the Hawaii wildfires, the deadliest in
the United States in a century. Officials warn that the final death toll is
expected to climb.

Emergency response questioned as Hawaii residents survey wildfire ruins

Despite growing public criticism, Andaya was steadfast in defending his decision
Wednesday, a day before he resigned. Asked by reporters if he had any regrets
about not deploying the public siren system, he replied: “I do not.”



He said he feared the sirens were “used primarily” for tsunamis and that there
was a risk that activating them in this instance would have sent people fleeing
to higher ground. “If that was the case, then they would have gone into the
fire,” he said. Maui instead relied on alerts sent by text messages and
broadcasts on television and radio, he added.


Wildfire risks are rising across U.S., from Hawaii to Oregon to Texas

The public siren system has been in place since a deadly tsunami hit Hawaii in
April 1946, killing more than 150 people. Officials established the Pacific
Tsunami Warning Center and alert system in response, “the first tsunami warning
system in the U.S.,” according to the Hawaii government.

Emergency officials have previously confirmed that other forms of public alert
systems were activated amid the inferno, including text messages sent to phones
and emergency television and radio messages. However, many residents have said
there were communications and cellphone outages during the crisis.




Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez (D) has launched a review of the
decision-making and policies leading up to, during and after the wildfires. The
investigation is expected to include analyzing decisions not to sound sirens and
could take months to complete, she said. The probe will be undertaken by “a
third-party private organization with experience in emergency management” to
ensure it is “an impartial, independent review,” she added in a statement
Thursday.



Earlier this week, Rep. Jill N. Tokuda (D-Hawaii) suggested that the alerts
might not have helped as much as some think. If residents heard the sirens, they
“would not know what the crisis was,” she said.

“You might think it’s a tsunami, by the way, which is our first instinct. You
would run toward land, which in this case would be toward fire,” the
congresswoman told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

Hawaii residents fear losing Lahaina as fires make housing crisis worse

Questions remain over what sparked the wildfires and why mitigation steps — such
as preemptively shutting off power to reduce the fire risk — weren’t followed.



Residents, meanwhile, have criticized the pace of search and rescue efforts for
missing people. Many residents remain without power and water, and some have
expressed anger at tourists for continuing to undertake boat trips and other
vacation activities amid the devastation.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green (D) issued an emergency proclamation at the weekend
declaring that nonessential travel to West Maui was “strongly discouraged,” and
tourism officials have urged people to put off nonessential travel to the
islands.

The fire damaged or destroyed 2,207 structures, the vast majority of which were
homes, according to a joint assessment by the Pacific Disaster Center and the
Federal Emergency Management Agency. The estimated cost to rebuild is over $5
billion, a figure likely to rise.

President Biden, who has faced some criticism for not visiting Hawaii sooner,
will travel to Maui and meet with first responders Monday alongside first lady
Jill Biden.




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THE CLAIM: POST IMPLIES SOMETHING IS SUSPICIOUS ABOUT MAUI FIRES MISSING OBAMA
ESTATE



An Aug. 14 post (direct link, archive link) on X, formerly Twitter, shows a
photo of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama and
suggests there is something suspicious about the couple's Hawaii home being
untouched by the state’s deadly wildfire.

“BREAKING: The Obamas estate was spared from the Maui fires in Hawaii,” reads
the post. “Out of all the destruction in Hawaii not a single blade of grass was
burned at the Obama estate.” 



Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

 It was shared on X more than 5,000 times in four days. Another version of the
claim spread on Facebook.

"DEWing The DEW," reads one comment, referencing a baseless conspiracy theory
that a direct energy weapon (DEW) was used to intentionally ignite the fires.

Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our
latest debunks


OUR RATING: MISSING CONTEXT

The implication that anything other than geography is the reason the Obamas'
home went unscathed is wrong. Multiple news outlets have published photos of the
former president on a property in Oahu, which is on a separate island more than
100 miles away from the Maui fires. 




OBAMA'S HOME MORE THAN 100 MILES AWAY FROM MAUI FIRES

The wildfires in Maui killed at least 111 people as of Aug. 17 making it the
deadliest U.S. fire in more than a century. It destroyed more than 2,700
structures in the historic town of Lahaina.

Obama urged his followers to donate to relief efforts for Maui in a video in an
Aug. 14 X post. He uses language in the video that indicates he does not live in
an area affected by the fire.



“As someone who grew up in Hawaii, as someone who has taken my family to enjoy
the incredible beauty of that island and the hospitality of the people of
Lahaina, we now find ourselves mourning the lives that are lost, and our
thoughts and prayers go out to the families that have lost so much,” Obama says.
“The thing about it is though, thoughts and prayers in a moment like this are
not enough. We have to step up, and we have to help those families, and we have
to help Lahaina rebuild.” 

Fact check: US military deployed helicopters, personnel to help those in Maui

ProPublica reported in 2020 that the Obamas would be the future occupants of an
oceanfront estate in Oahu. Photos taken by celebrity photography agency Backgrid
and published by outlets that include The Daily Mail and TMZ in 2022 show Obama
talking to construction workers at the property. 

The fires have sparked an array of conspiracy theories about their origin. USA
TODAY previously debunked baseless claims that a directed energy weapon caused
the fire and that an image showed a laser beam responsible for the blaze.

The X user acknowledged to USA TODAY that Obama's home is not in Maui.


OUR FACT-CHECK SOURCES:

 * Google Maps, accessed Aug. 16, Hawaii map
 * KGO-TV, accessed Aug. 16, Hawaii Wildfire Tracker
 * ProPublica, Aug. 15, 2020, Obama and the Beach House Loopholes

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition,
ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.


Full screen


1 of 48 Photos in Gallery©Stephen Lam, AP




Properties destroyed in the West Maui Wildfire are seen near Front Street in
Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023.


This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Obama's Hawaii estate untouched
by Maui fire because it's in Oahu | Fact check




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