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The first emergency calls came in at 2:55 p.m. on Aug. 8, the
report said. Firefighters could see the smoke at 2:57 p.m.;
arrived at the large, fast-growing patch of fire at 3:00 p.m.;
and had been joined by police officers who confirmed the first
building to catch fire at 3:05 p.m., a storage shed.
The first responders were no match for the embers whipped
downslope by winds from a passing hurricane, and the fires
quickly engulfed and destroyed most of Lahaina, the former
capital of the Hawaiian kingdom, killing 101 people, according
to the official tally.
Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez called the report 'phase one'
of the findings by the Maryland-based Fire Safety Research
Institute.
Her office will release two more reports at later dates, the
first described as an analysis of how Maui's fire-prevention
systems worked before and during the Lahaina fire, and the
second to include recommendations on preventing similar
disasters in the future.
"We will review what worked and what did not work and make
improvements to prevent future disasters of this magnitude,"
Lopez said in a statement.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
is conducting a separate investigation into the origin and
causes of the fire. It has not said when it will release its
findings.
The attorney general's report shows that at 3:28 p.m., a second
fire truck reported another building had ignited. Minutes later,
multiple vehicles and buildings were ablaze.
The report notes that the structures were generally close
together, and the fire spread between buildings via trees,
fences, sheds and propane tanks, as well as by windborne embers.
About 90 minutes after the first calls came in, the fire had
reached the commercial center of Front Street and the ocean,
into which many desperate residents jumped after failing to make
progress fleeing along one of the very few roads out of town.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Bill
Berkrot)
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