HONOLULU (AP) — The parties in lawsuits seeking damages for last year’s Maui wildfires have reached a $4 billion global settlement, a court filing said Friday, nearly one year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.
The parties in lawsuits seeking damages for last year’s Maui wildfires have reached a $4 billion global settlement, a court filing said Friday, nearly one year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.
The term sheet with details of the settlement is not publicly available, but the liaison attorneys filed a motion saying the global settlement seeks to resolve all Maui fire claims for $4.037 billion. The motion asks the judge to order that insurers can’t separately go after the defendants to recoup money paid to policyholders.
The settlement was reached amid fears that Hawaiian Electric, the power company that some blame for sparking the blaze, could be on the brink of bankruptcy. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating the Aug. 8, 2023 fires that killed 102 people and destroyed the historic downtown area of Lahaina.
Gilbert Keith-Agaran, a Maui attorney who represents victims, including families who lost relatives, said the amount was “woefully short.” But he said it was a deal plaintiffs needed to consider given Hawaiian Electric’s limited assets and potential bankruptcy.
Now that a settlement has been reached, more work needs to be done on next steps, like how to divvy up the amount.
