Fatal Lahaina fire was not a crime, state AG says

No criminal charges will result from the state investigation into the wildfires that leveled Lahaina, killed 102 people and destroyed Maui’s visitor industry, according to state Attorney General Anne E. Lopez.

In a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Lopez said the administrative investigation is closed, with the results reflected in the Phase One and Phase Two reports from the Fire Safety Research Institute, the contractor hired by the state to review the response to the fatal fires.

“Further, because this has been a topic of conversation, I can confirm that the administrative investigation into the past conduct did not reveal facts that warranted a criminal investigation, let alone criminal charges,” Lopez said. “Instead, the investigation revealed many instances of great heroism, and I wish to particularly commend Maui’s firefighters and police officers for their professionalism and bravery in extremely difficult circumstances.”

Lopez said that criminal charges were “unlikely.”

“For instance, while California law allowed for involuntary manslaughter charges to be brought against Pacific Gas &Electric, Hawaii has no such analogous criminal provisions,” Lopez said.

Unlike California, Hawaii has no state statutes creating criminal penalties for large wildfires that allow for prosecutions like the one Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey conducted following the 2018 Camp Fire.

That prosecution ended with Pacific Gas and Electric Co. pleading guilty to 84 counts of manslaughter.

On Oct. 2, the Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives declared the fire accidental.

The final call on whether to bring federal criminal charges in connection with the death and damage that occurred Aug. 8, 2023, rests with U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors.

“We cannot comment on the existence of any active or potential criminal investigation,” read a statement to the Star-Advertiser from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The Maui Police Department does not have a criminal investigation related to the cause and origin of the Lahaina fire.

“The Maui Police Department is currently conducting a criminal investigation into a contractor whose services were utilized during the August 2023 wildfires. Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, specific details are not being disclosed at this time,” Alana K. Pico, a MPD spokesperson, told the Star-Advertiser.

Lopez hired FSRI shortly after the wildfires on Aug. 8 to conduct an investigation of government agency actions up to and during the first 24 to 72 hours of the Lahaina fire and its aftermath.

FSRI’s contract is currently capped at $4 million.

The Lahaina fire started on Aug. 8, 2023, when downed power lines reenergized at about 6:34 a.m. ignited overgrown vegetation that violated the county fire code near a utility pole off of Lahainaluna Road.

The wildfire started in overgrown vegetation surrounding utility pole 25 on Lahainaluna Road according to the 289 pages of findings detailing the fire that caused $5.5 billion in damage.

On Tuesday, Lopez and Derek Alkonis, FSRI research program manager, appeared at an informational briefing before the state House Committee on Water &Land and the House Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.

During the briefing, Judiciary Chair Rep. David A. Tarnas asked Lopez if the state investigation found any “actions or inaction that are criminal and who is investigating that?”

Lopez replied that she and Gov. Josh Green initiated the investigation after the fires because they believe government agencies have an obligation to find out “what we did right, what we did wrong and learn from it and make sure it doesn’t happen in the future and that was truly my narrow goal.”

“Once I got started, these questions (about criminal charges) started coming up,” Lopez told the state lawmakers Tuesday. “From my investigation, there was no conduct that I concluded was criminal or should have required criminal investigation nor did I identify any conduct that I felt should go under administrative review and … be separated from this investigation.”