People in the old Maui town of Lahaina who were stranded in their cars, homes, or on the beach and were surrounded by flames, black smoke, and embers contacted 911, the only number that could give rescue or advise them on what to do and where to go.
As others around him burned, a man splashed water on his house. “I don’t know if we can get out,” he said. A family crouched in front of a fireplace while smoke alarms blared, reluctant to leave their scared dog behind. “I cannot get out of my door—there are flames blowing into the house!” said another woman. I can now tell people, “I have a baby.”
The Associated Press obtained audio recordings of dispatcher responses in response to a public records request, and they reveal the devastating speed with which the worst U.S. wildfire in more than a century swept across the town, as well as the difficulty local authorities had in keeping up with the pandemonium.
With the police and fire agencies already overburdened, dispatchers became increasingly overloaded and unable to assist anybody, finally resorting to cliches such as “Leave if you have to leave” and informing callers that assistance was on the way.
Dispatchers were often compassionate, attempting to calm individuals anxious and advising them to take whatever safeguards they saw necessary. varied callers were given varied orders, such as “stay in your cars,” “run for your lives,” or “head for the ocean,” according on the unfolding scenario. Anyone who could make the trek was advised to go to the Lahaina Civic Center as a safe refuge.
A dispatcher told a woman trying to leave town with her family, “You folks just need to be patient,” despite the fact that multiple automobiles on Front Street would soon take fire, killing several people. “It will be moving, but very slowly,” they said.
“Are we in danger?” the frightened caller inquired.
Absolutely not, ma’am. What we’re doing is as wonderful as it gets.
A few minutes later, another caller stranded on a different road had a completely different response: “If you can’t drive, get out of the car and run.”
These 911 calls were made on August 8 between 3:30 and 5:30 p.m., when the town was threatened by a fire whipped up by hurricane winds.
Over 98 people were killed, and over 2,000 structures, predominantly homes, were destroyed. The fire utterly devastated Lahaina, a town with a long history as the Hawaiian kingdom’s whaling headquarters. As black smoke and a wall of flames covered the area on all three sides, many cars were stopped on Front Street. They deliberated whether to stay or evacuate to the coast as cars exploded and burning debris fell around them.
Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary electric utility, has confirmed that its power wires sparked an early morning fire on Maui. County firefighters claimed to have doused the wildfire and then left, but the flames rapidly flared up again.
Hawaiian Electric has been sued by the county and the victims’ families on charges that it failed to properly shut down power during periods of high wind and drought.
People continued to call for help, whether they were trapped in their vehicles, threatened by falling trees and wires, or worried about family members who were alone at home. Overburdened dispatchers apologized twice but stated they couldn’t send anyone to the caller’s location.
On Hawaii’s Big Island, a worried father reported his pickup became trapped in traffic near the sugar plantation’s first mill. When they were able to move away from the burning automobile, they were still chatting to the dispatcher.
“Somebody’s down over there!” he said.
Get the hell out of here! His child shouted. Whatever we attempt, it will not help her.
Dispatchers also got calls from outside of Lahaina, where they heard of violent occurrences and other fires blazing on the island. According to the Maui Police Department, over 4,500 911 calls and messages were made that day, with hundreds of them coming in during the time span sought by AP. Dispatchers get around 1,600 calls every day on average.
In an email, Alana Pico, a police department spokesperson, noted that “it was an extremely dynamic situation that day, in which our dispatchers adapted to the best of their abilities.”
To safeguard people’s privacy, officials wiped recordings of their names and addresses before distributing them. Many of the recordings were devoid of information on whether or not the callers were finally discovered safe.
The family and their dog had sought cover in the fireplace, but the dispatcher persuaded them to evacuate. Because none of the victims were newborns, the mother who was inside when the fire broke out is likely to have survived.
According to a total given by Maui County, people aged 60 and up made up about 66 percent of the verified fatalities. The calls are expressions of anguish from those who were unable to travel on their own.
A lady stated that her daughter contacted her at 3:31 p.m. to tell that her 88-year-old husband had been left at home alone. She hoped that if aid arrived fast, they would see that the sliding doors were not locked.
She told the operator, “He would have to be carried out.” I had to abandon him since the rest of my family was traveling with me.
Two minutes later, a woman from the Hale Mahaolu Eono group senior housing called. She claimed to be one of just four people remained inside the building when the fire broke out.
“Are we supposed to get evacuated?” she said, her voice worried.
“OK, ma’am, if you feel unsafe, listen to yourself and evacuate,” replied the dispatcher.
As ash dropped all around her, the woman attempted to hail passing automobiles for a ride. She was eventually successful in obtaining one.
The call did not say anything about what happened to the remaining residents. Authorities would eventually conclude that numerous fatalities happened there.
As the Lahaina disaster dragged out, people’s frustration mounted. A guy contacted 911 at 4:56 p.m. to report that his elderly parents were trapped in their burning home, and the operator admonished him briefly.
Why didn’t they just call us? The dispatcher said, “They should have called us directly; that would have helped us locate them more quickly.” She stated that they should have left the residence sooner since the man should have told them to.
The man said, “Yes, we’ve been trying to tell them — my dad was fighting the fire.” ‘I love you,’ he said as his final words to me. We have no prospect of survival.
The dispatchers also attempted to defuse emotions.
At 4:44 p.m., the caller told the dispatcher, “My mom and my baby are still out there,” while crying. They got out of the car and began strolling up the street.
The operator got her to provide the address of the last street they were spotted on.
“We have officers over there, OK?” the operator informed the caller.
According to Mahina Martin, Maui County’s chief of communication, the county released the audio because it was obliged by law.
“Reliving the tragedy causes unimaginable pain and grief for survivors, their families, and the families of loved ones lost that chaotic and heartbreaking day,” Martin said in a follow-up email.
She then went on to remark that “it is truly unfortunate that as people are beginning to heal, they are faced with re-experiencing the horrific event over and over again as it replays on media.”
The fact that survivors were unable to evacuate, even in their automobiles, is a recurring subject throughout the audio samples.
A caller said that automobiles were being directed into a gated parking area before being forced to loop back out. Someone else claimed to have been led onto a dirt road behind the municipal center, where they too reached a closed gate. A third caller cautioned that if the blocked exit on the south side of town was not unlocked, people would perish.
At 5:25 p.m., more than two hours after the fire started, it appeared that some dispatchers still didn’t have a complete picture of what was going on. When a caller was stuck in traffic, the dispatcher said that firemen were overworked “because Lahaina has a couple of house fires going on right now.”
“If you’re safe, you need to stay there,” she went on to say. If you’re in peril, you should find a way to the water.
