2023-10-15 09:14:08
Trapped in their cars, in homes or on the beach as flames, black smoke and embers swirled around them, people in the historic Maui town of Lahaina called 911, the one number that might send help or tell them what to do, where to go.
A man sprayed water on his house as homes around him burned: “I don’t know if we can get out,” he reported.
A family huddled in a fireplace, reluctant to leave without their frightened dog, as smoke alarms beeped incessantly.
“I cannot get out of my door — there’s flames blowing into the house!” another woman pleaded. “I have a baby.”
The responses from dispatchers, captured in audio recordings provided to The Associated Press through a public records request, reflect how quickly the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century overtook the town — and how challenging it was for overwhelmed officials to keep up with the chaos.
Inundated with calls, and with police and firefighters all occupied, the dispatchers became increasingly powerless to render help, resorting to offering advice like “leave if you have to leave” and assuring callers that responders were in the area.
The dispatchers often showed compassion, working to soothe residents and telling them to do whatever they needed to do to be safe.
As circumstances changed, some callers were told to stay in their cars, others to run for their lives or to head for the ocean. Many were urged to shelter at the Lahaina Civic Center if they might make it.
“You folks just need to be patient,” one dispatcher told a woman stuck in traffic while trying to evacuate with her family on Front Street — where a number of cars would soon burn and people would perish. “It’s going to be moving, but it’s going to be very slowly.”
“Are we in danger?” the caller asked.
“No, ma’am — no. We’re trying our best,” came the reply.
Minutes later, a caller stuck on another road got sharply different guidance: “If you can’t drive, get out of your car and run.”
The 911 calls released to AP cover a two hour period on August 8 as the blaze, whipped by powerful winds from a passing hurricane, bore down on the town.
At least 98 people were killed and more than 2000 structures were destroyed, most of them homes. The fire leveled Lahaina, a historic town that once served as the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom and a port for whaling ships.
Many drivers became trapped on Front Street, surrounded on three sides by black smoke and a wall of flames. They had moments to choose whether to stay or jump into the ocean as cars exploded and burning debris fell around them.
Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary electric utility company, has acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire on Maui that morning. County firefighters declared the blaze contained and left, only to have flames reemerge nearby.
The county and the families of some victims have sued Hawaiian Electric, saying the utility negligently failed to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions.
The pleas for help came one following another, people calling because they were stuck in cars, trapped by fallen trees and power lines, or worried regarding loved ones who were home alone.
Again and once more, overwhelmed dispatchers apologised but said there was no one available to send to their location.
A panicked father reported being trapped in his pickup, with a long line of other cars, behind the old mill of one of Hawaii’s first sugar plantations. Flames were just inches from the vehicle when they finally managed to drive away, still on the line with a dispatcher.
“Somebody’s down over there!” he said.
“Just go, Dad!” his son shouted. “We cannot do nothing for her!”
Dispatchers also fielded calls from outside Lahaina, including reports of violent crimes and other wildfires burning elsewhere on the island. In all there were more than 4500 emergency calls and texts that day, according to the Maui Police Department, including hundreds of calls during the time span requested by AP. Normally, dispatchers get regarding 1600 calls a day.
More than two hours following the fire began consuming homes, it appeared some dispatchers still didn’t have a full understanding of what was happening. One dispatcher told a caller stuck in traffic that emergency workers were busy “because Lahaina has a couple of house fires going on right now”.
“If you’re safe, you need to stay there,” she said. “If you’re not safe, you need to find some way to get to the ocean.”
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