![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/hawaii-wildfires-death-toll-rises-to-93-as-officials-were-warned-island-was-tinderbox/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/0_US-FIRE-HAWAII-2.jpg&description=Officials confirmed at least 93 are dead after wildfires swept through Maui, Hawaii. Survivors are complaining they could not hear the sirens designed to warn of them of the danger The death toll in Hawaii has risen to 93 after wildfires decimated the area - and it has since emerged officials were warned the island was a tinderbox. Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier confirmed in a news conference that two victims had been identified, as hundreds of families search desperately for news on their loved ones. The newly released figure surpassed the toll of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise. Now it has emerged a wildfire-protection plan by the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organisation, a nonprofit that works with government agencies, was written in 2014. It warned that Lahaina was among Maui's most fire-prone areas because of its proximity to parched grasslands, steep terrain and frequent winds. The plan laid out several actions needed to protect the area from fires. They included thinning vegetation near populated areas, improving wildfire-response capabilities and working with landowners and utilities to help reduce fire risk on their property. Some warnings were acted upon, but increasing emergency-response capacity was prevented due to lack of funding, logistical problems faced by the rugged terrain and competing issues. The report's lead author, Elizabeth Pickett, said: "We've been hammering this home, and it's just really frustrating and heartbreaking to see that some things could have been done, but we couldn't find the money. "We are living through what happens when there's a lag, and everyone's still catching up." Representatives for the Hawaii state and Maui county governments have yet to respond to requests for comment. Specialist teams with cadaver dogs have been searching the ash and rubbled ruins of recently thriving communities. Shaken, residents have become upset at not being allowed back i){kind=link}
Officials confirmed at least 93 are dead after wildfires swept through Maui, Hawaii. Survivors are complaining they could not hear the sirens designed to warn of them of the danger
The death toll in Hawaii has risen to 93 after wildfires decimated the area – and it has since emerged officials were warned the island was a tinderbox.
Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier confirmed in a news conference that two victims had been identified, as hundreds of families search desperately for news on their loved ones. The newly released figure surpassed the toll of the 2018 Camp Fire in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise.
Now it has emerged a wildfire-protection plan by the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organisation, a nonprofit that works with government agencies, was written in 2014.
It warned that Lahaina was among Maui’s most fire-prone areas because of its proximity to parched grasslands, steep terrain and frequent winds.