Hawaii fires, nearly 100 dead on the island of Maui. Investigations on alarm systems. PHOTO

L’fire on the island of Maui in Hawaiiwith a provisional budget of 96 victims, is the deadliest fire in US history since 1918, when 453 people died in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The death toll in the tropical archipelago has surpassed that of the Camp Fire, the 2018 wildfire in California that virtually wiped the small town of Paradise off the map and killed 86 people. But the count of the dead has just begun and the authorities predict that the final balance will be much heavier

Fires in Hawaii, worst disaster in the US for 100 years

According to the authorities, there are still a thousand missing and only 3% of the area devastated by the flames has so far been searched, even with the help of rescue dogs. The Maui police chief, John Pelletier, has invited the population to undergo DNA tests, in order to speed up the difficult identifications. Only a couple have been carried out so far, due to the devastating power of the fires. “The remains we’re finding are from a fire that melted the metal. When we collect them… they fall apart,” he explained.

Hawaii fire, pictures of the disaster

Meanwhile, local and state authorities are the focus of firefighting controversy which especially destroyed the city of Lahina. Indeed, the environmental disaster would have exposed the inefficiencies of the emergency service. According to the first reports, the warning alerts on cell phones would go off late while the sirens – whose system is considered among the most developed in the United States and the largest in the world – they wouldn’t have fired

Hawaii, Italian tourist on Sky TG24: “No information on the alarm”

According to the testimonies, none of the sirens would go off on Tuesdaywhen the first fire broke out. The State of Hawaii reportedly sent fifteen cell phone alerts using its integrated system, but perhaps not in a timely manner. The governor, Democrat Josh Green, admitted he wasn’t sure if Maui’s warning system worked properly. “The speed of propagation of the flames could have damaged the infrastructure and rendered the alarm system unusable,” he said

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Also on this point, on the efficiency of the alarm systems, theinvestigation announced by Hawaii federal prosecutor Anne Lopez. “My department – ​​she explained – is busy understanding what decisions were taken before and during the fires and making the results public”. The response of the authorities once the disaster seemed inevitable is also under observation

Along with the number of victims, therefore, anger, pain and controversy also grow on the failure to prevent and mismanage the emergency, which led to the opening of the official investigation. Under accusation in particular the failure to activate the alarm system, with 400 sirens (including 80 in Maui) remained silent while the fire advanced rapidly and ferociously. Not even the text messages arrived because telephone coverage collapsed and many learned of the fires from people fleeing or from the sudden appearance of flames a stone’s throw from home

Until a year ago, the risk of such fires, fueled by the powerful gusts of hurricanes and persistent drought, was classified as “low”. Gov. Josh Green defended the instant response to hell, explaining that the situation was complicated by the presence of multiple fires and the strength of the winds. “After seeing that storm, we doubt much could have been done with a fire that was raging and fast like that,” he said

President Joe Biden he has promised aid and has not ruled out flying to Hawaii, the overwhelmingly Democratic state where his former boss Barack Obama was born. The tragedy of the tropical archipelago was also remembered by Dad at the Angelus: “I wish to assure my prayers for the victims of the fires that devastated the island of Maui in Hawaii”. There Farnesina has opened an assistance desk at Maui international airport with staff from the consulate general of San Francisco for the approximately 60 Italians present

From Lahaina, the most affected town of over 12,000 inhabitants, they arrive apocalyptic images: almost 3,000 buildings destroyed, ruins and ashes everywhere, even the centuries-old and iconic “banyan tree”, the largest in the USA and one of the largest in the world, with 20 meters in height, 400 meters in circumference and 16 trunks. It is estimated that the damages amount to 5.5 billion dollars, but those to the ecosystem are still to be calculated

Last year there were 18 billion-dollar disasters caused by extreme weather conditions, driven by climate change, costing the US 165 billion dollars, in addition to the deaths of at least 474 people. This year’s bill still lacks the hurricane season, which experts predict will be higher than normal for warming oceans. Because of this many call for Biden to proclaim a ‘national climate emergency’

Fires in Italy, burning over 59 thousand hectares in 2023