Witness accounts and video indicated that sparks from power lines ignited fires as utility poles snapped in the winds, which were driven by a passing hurricane.
Maui County sued Hawaiian Electric Company on Thursday that devastated Lahaina, saying the utility negligently failed to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions.
Witness accounts and video indicated that sparks from power lines ignited fires as utility poles snapped in the winds, which were driven by a passing hurricane. The Aug. 8 fires have killed at least 115 people, making them the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. Hundreds more remain missing.
Hawaii Electric said in a statement it is “very disappointed that Maui County chose this litigious path while the investigation is still unfolding.”
The FBI and Maui County police are still trying to determine how many people remain unaccounted for in the fires. The FBI there were 1,000 to 1,100 names on a tentative, unconfirmed list.
Maui County officials said Thursday that 46 of the victims have so far been identified. They include 7-year-old Tony Takafua, the first confirmed child victim of the fires.
In a news release announcing the lawsuit, Maui County officials said the wildfires destroyed more than 2,200 structures and caused at least $5.5 billion in damage.
The lawsuit said the destruction could have been avoided and that the utility had a duty “to properly maintain and repair the electric transmission lines, and other equipment including utility poles associated with their transmission of electricity, and to keep vegetation properly trimmed and maintained so as to prevent contact with overhead power lines and other electric equipment.
