Some of the devastating wildfires that destroyed much of the Hawaiian island of Maui may have been caused by damage to power lines.
Video footage and electricity grid data have been found to correlate, indicating that the first fire on the island may have begun due to a tree falling onto power lines.
A security camera at the Maui Bird Conservation Center in the eastern region of Upcountry, captured a flash in the woods near the center at around 11 p.m. local time on August 7, followed by a blaze churning out smoke after daybreak.
"I think that is when a tree is falling on a power line," Jennifer Pribble, a senior research coordinator at the center, said in a video posted on Instagram by the Hawaiian Department of Land and Natural Resources. "The power goes out, our generator kicks in, the camera comes back online, and then the forest is on fire."
At the exact same time, 10 sensors in the small town of Makawao, near to the conservation center, recorded a major incident in the power grid, data from Whisker Labs shows. It uses a sensor network to monitor grids across the United States.
"This is strong confirmation—based on real data—that utility grid faults were likely the ignition source for multiple wildfires on Maui," Bob Marshall, the founder and CEO of Whisker Labs, told The Washington Post.
A Whisker Labs official told the Post that the bright light seen in the security footage was likely an "arc flash," which occurs when power lines are hit, releasing electricity via sparks. This often happens after the line touches vegetation, or other lines, or is knocked down.
The fire in Upcountry, which began on August 8, was the first to start burning on Maui, and marks the first time that footage of an electrical fault has been directly linked with data showing simultaneous issues with the grid.
However, whether the Upcountry fire was the cause of the other fires across the island, including the Lahaina fire that also began burning on August 8, has not been confirmed.
The Maui wildfires are now thought to have claimed at least 106 people's lives, with more than 1,000 people still unaccounted for. There were several blazes across the island, the largest of which swallowed Lahaina, burning thousands of buildings across the town and spanning around 2,170 acres.
The other fires scorched 678 acres in Upcountry/Kula, and smaller areas of Pulehu/Kihei and Puʻukoliʻi/Kaʻanapali. The Lahaina fire is now 85 percent contained, while the Upcountry/Kula fire is at 75 percent containment, and the others are now 100 percent contained, Maui County confirmed in a statement.
In response to the disaster, the stock price of Hawaiian Electric Industries plummeted, and as of August 14, was down 38.57 percent to $19.90 from $33.04 on Friday, August 11. As of August 16, the price had dropped further to $14.79.
Some Maui residents have now filed lawsuits against Hawaiian Electric Industries.
"Despite the National Weather Service issuing a High Wind Watch and Red Flag Warningand cautioning both that damaging winds could blow down power lines and that any fires that developed would likely spread rapidly—Defendants Maui Electric Company, Limited ("MECO"); Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc. ("HECO"); Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. ("HELCO"); and Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. ("HEI") (collectively, "Defendants") inexcusably kept their power lines energized during forecasted high fire danger conditions," the lawsuit, reviewed by Newsweek, said.
The lawsuit states that as the electric company did not shut off its power during the "dangerous fire conditions," they were responsible for the effects of the wildfires.
Hawaii experienced strong winds in the days before and during the fires, reaching up to 67 mph due to the Category 4 Hurricane Dora which was passing several hundred miles to the south of Hawaii at the time.
"This destruction could have been avoided if defendants had heeded the National Weather Service warnings and de-energized their power lines during the predicted high wind," the lawsuit said.
Update 8/16/2023 8:33 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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