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The volume of fire present would have required multiple fireboats for each structure, there's no such thing as big enough fleet for what we're talking about in Lahaina.
As others pointed out, the winds would have prevented the streams from being very effective. And the streams from a fireboat aren't getting to the 100's of structures just a block in from the waterfront.
Fireboats spraying water would have looked great for the cameras, but their proper use was pulling people out of the ocean. Life over property, always.
A huge issue not mentioned yet, is Maui only has 10 fire stations on that island and less than 70 firefighters on duty. 10 times that wouldn’t have been able to stop the fire. And there are other fires, they were overwhelmed I’m sure. Latest update is now 53 deaths.
Last edited by GA Survivor; 08-10-2023 at 08:06 PM..
Reason: Added information
This AP story quotes a resident: The flames left some people with mere minutes to act and led some to flee into the ocean. A Lahaina man, Bosco Bae, posted video on Facebook from Tuesday night that showed fire burning nearly every building on a street as sirens blared and windblown sparks raced by. Bae, who said he was one of the last people to leave the town, was evacuated to the island’s main airport and was waiting to be allowed to return home.
Our dear friends said they literally ran for their lives and are grateful to be alive. Today they returned to a home burnt to the ground. I suspect many were caught unaware till they saw flames out their windows.
How did they get there? They aren't letting anyone in the Lahaina area except emergency personnel
Don’t have the full details just a quick communication they were glad to be alive and a pic of their burnt down house. They didn’t leave Lahaina. I suspect if they didn’t shelter at the civic center by the police station??? yhey stayed in Kaanapali somewhere.
Has anyone said how they're arranging the evacuation of tourists from the island? In normal times, there's always a steady flow of people arriving and departing, and the airlines schedule their flights accordingly. But now, all of a sudden, there's at least a week's worth of tourists all wanting to leave at the same time. Obviously it will take some time to clear them out.
If it isn't being done already, I would think it would make sense to run some extra planes back and forth on a shuttle run from Kahului to Honolulu. That way, they can get the tourists off the island and out of the way faster (and thus free up more resources for emergency workers) and then work on flying them home from Honolulu.
Lahaina Front Street is said to be gone, hope that's not true. I love Maui, lots of fun times with my kids. I'll probably never get back, but know they hope to. Prayers for them all.
I could have written the above message. We spent many vacations there with our kids. I also feel I will probably never go back. Such a sad situation!
If it isn't being done already, I would think it would make sense to run some extra planes back and forth on a shuttle run from Kahului to Honolulu. That way, they can get the tourists off the island and out of the way faster (and thus free up more resources for emergency workers) and then work on flying them home from Honolulu.
That's exactly what is happening. There are no incoming flights, just outgoing to Honolulu, and other airlines have come forward to help take evacuees to other islands. They are asking that tourists cancel their plans to come right now since other islands have fires and they are placing evacuees where they can.
I'm wondering if Larry Ellison is reaching out to help.
He could, almost literally.
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