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The
county said downed power lines started the wildfires that
destroyed the historic town of Lahaina earlier this month,
killing at least 115 people and displacing hundreds more.
The electric company and its subsidiary Maui Electric had a duty
to manage the power lines in a safe manner and had been warned
by the National Weather Service that dangerous wildfire
conditions were present before they started, the county said.
The lawsuit also said multiple reports had warned of wildfire
risk in the area, and the utility was aware of the danger from
fires in the county during summer months when temperatures are
high, winds are strong and there is little moisture.
The "severe and catastrophic" losses from the wildfires "could
have easily been prevented" if the utility had implemented a
plan to shut off power, the county said.
Hawaiian Electric did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
The lawsuit filed in state court asks for an unspecified amount
in damages to compensate for losses sustained by the county
during the fires, including property damage and the costs of
fire suppression. Early estimates of the damage have been pegged
as high as $5 billion for one of the fires, which burned through
Lahaina.
The county's lawsuit came after the utility provider's
shareholders earlier on Thursday filed their own lawsuit in a
San Francisco federal court, alleging the company's failure to
disclose important information about its wildfire prevention and
safety protocols.
Shareholders claimed they suffered "significant losses and
damages" due to the company's "wrongful acts and omissions, and
the precipitous decline in the market value of its securities,"
according to the court filing.
Shares of Hawaii's largest utility were more than 40% down for
the week. The company has lost more than half of its market
value since the Aug. 8 wildfires.
An official cause of the fires has not yet been determined, but
the Honolulu-based company has been blamed for them in several
lawsuits filed by victims in recent days.
(Reporting by Arshreet Singh in Bengaluru and Clark Mindock in
New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Stephen Coates)
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