XPost: alt.politics.democrats, alt.wildland.firefighting, hawaii.politics   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: posted@bosley.biz   
      
   On 07 Jun 2023, Adam Cartwright  posted some   
   news:u5ptq4$14ib7$5@dont-email.me:   
      
   > They were practicing sticking their heads up each other's ass.   
      
   HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - As the wildfire in Lahaina spread, the   
   Pacific’s top disaster management leaders were together with many of   
   Hawaii’s emergency officials at a meeting on Oahu educating them about   
   how to respond in crisis situations, FEMA confirms to HNN.   
      
   The revelation is the latest twist in the ongoing effort to determine   
   how Maui emergency management officials responded to the wildfires on   
   Aug. 8, as thousands were in the crosshairs of an inferno that claimed   
   the town of Lahaina and more than 100 lives.   
      
   Gina Lawless lost her home to the flames and is among those who want   
   answers.   
      
   “So many people that I know say we never knew. We never knew anything   
   about the fire,” she said.   
      
   HNN Investigates has learned that on Aug. 8, the day of the wildfire,   
   several of the nation’s top emergency management officials were in   
   Hawaii hosting an annual conference. Those attending were quite   
   literally the who’s who of disaster response locally and across the   
   Pacific.   
      
   They were gathered in Waikiki for an annual FEMA disaster meeting, a   
   half-hour plane ride away from a wildfire that would become the   
   deadliest in the United States in more than a century.   
      
   The agenda listed 74 attendees at this year’s Pacific Partnership   
   Meeting including FEMA leadership and several members of the Center for   
   Homeland Defense and Security.   
      
   HNN confirmed the now-former head of Maui Emergency Management Agency —   
   Herman Andaya — was also on hand along with as many as six state   
   emergency management leaders, including Director Kenneth Hara,   
   administrator James Barros and executive officer Don Aweau.   
      
   In an email, a state emergency management spokesperson said those   
   officials were part of a “coordinating call about 11 a.m.” to discuss   
   multiple wildfires that had sparked on Big Island and Maui. That   
   spokesperson went on to say that HIEMA personnel were updated throughout   
   the day.   
      
   FEMA confirmed the fires were part of discussions during the conference.   
      
   “There were consultations about the fires among local, state and FEMA   
   participants,” said FEMA spokesperson John Mills.   
      
   HNN asked both Maui County and the state who was left in charge while   
   those local emergency officials attended the meeting and what time they   
   were made aware of the catastrophe unfolding in Lahaina. Despite   
   multiple requests, those questions remains unanswered.   
      
   Meanwhile, many who experienced the horror of that day first-hand say   
   government failed them by not sounding the emergency sirens.   
      
   “It’s inexcusable,” Lawless said. “A lot of people probably could have   
   gotten out.”   
      
   HNN Investigates confirmed Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, acting governor that   
   day, authorized an initial emergency proclamation for the multiple fires   
   that were burning on Maui and Big Island.   
      
   That proclamation was issued at 3:21 p.m. that Tuesday. It’s still   
   unclear when Andaya and Hara left the meeting to respond to the   
   emergency. A state spokesperson said that Barros and Aweau returned to   
   the state’s Emergency Operations Center a little after 5 p.m. on Aug. 8.   
      
   https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/08/23/disaster-response-conference-wen   
   t-with-hawaiis-top-emergency-officials-there-maui-burned/   
      
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