{"id":2012762,"date":"2023-08-26T04:53:02","date_gmt":"2023-08-26T08:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maui-county-sues-public-utility-and-its-affiliates-over-deadly-wildfires\/"},"modified":"2023-08-26T04:55:40","modified_gmt":"2023-08-26T08:55:40","slug":"maui-county-sues-public-utility-and-its-affiliates-over-deadly-wildfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maui-county-sues-public-utility-and-its-affiliates-over-deadly-wildfires\/","title":{"rendered":"Maui County sues utility and affiliates for deadly wildfires."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmaui-county-sues-public-utility-and-its-affiliates-over-deadly-wildfires%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2012762&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<h2>The Largest County\u2064 on Maui Island Sues Public Utility\u2062 for Negligence<\/h2>\n<p>The\u200c largest \u2064county on the Hawaiian\u2063 island of Maui is\u200b <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/n-m-widower-sues-alburquerque-over-sanctuary-city-policy\/\" title=\"N.M. widower sues Alburquerque over sanctuary city policy\">taking legal action<\/a> against the state&#8217;s public\u2062 utility, alleging \u2064&#8221;gross negligence&#8221; that led to devastating \u200cwildfires. These fires claimed the lives of at \u2063least 115 people and caused extensive\u200d damage to \u200dthousands of buildings and homes.<\/p>\n<p>Maui County filed a civil lawsuit\u2063 on \u2063Aug. 24 in the Second Circuit Court against \u2062Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) and its affiliates, Maui Electric Co. (MEC), Hawaiian\u2064 Electric \u200bCo. \u2063(HECO), and\u200c Hawaiian Electric Light Co. \u2062(HELCO).<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit accuses the defendants of failing\u2064 to\u2063 shut down power lines despite &#8220;red flag&#8221;\u200c warnings from the \u200cNational Weather Service (NWS)\u200c and neglecting proper equipment maintenance.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Related \u200cStories<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/maui-releases-names-of-388-people-still-missing-after-deadly-wildfire-5480702\">Maui Releases Names of 388 People Still\u200b Missing After Deadly Wildfire<\/a> -\u200d 8\/25\/2023<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/republicans-call-for-sba-accountability-on-disaster-response-to-maui-fires-5480105\">Republicans Call for SBA Accountability on\u200b Disaster Response to Maui \u200cFires<\/a> &#8211; \u200b8\/24\/2023<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The 56-page document states, &#8220;Had the\u2063 defendants heeded the\u200d NWS warnings and de-energized their\u200c power lines during \u2062the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maui-county-sues-public-utility-and-its-affiliates-over-deadly-wildfires\/\" title=\"Maui County sues utility and affiliates for deadly wildfires.\">predicted high-wind gusts<\/a>, the destruction could have \u200cbeen avoided.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit argues that a\u200c combination of \u2062high \u2063winds caused by Hurricane Dora, dry conditions, and an \u2063aging power infrastructure led to three destructive wildfires on Maui in \u2064early August.<\/p>\n<p>The\u2062 Lahaina Fire, which started on Aug. 8, was the most\u200d devastating, resulting in the loss of \u2064at least 115 lives and the destruction of 2,200 buildings. The Kula Fire \u2064and the Olinda \u2062Fire also caused significant damage.<\/p>\n<p>The suit accuses \u200cthe defendants\u200d of &#8220;inexcusably&#8221; energizing power lines during \u2062high-fire danger conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Maui County aims to recover damages for\u2063 public\u200d resources, including infrastructure losses, fire response costs, revenue losses, increased expenses, \u2063environmental \u2062damages, and the loss of historical or cultural landmarks.<\/p>\n<h2>Weather Warning \u2063and Cost of Rebuilding<\/h2>\n<p>In early\u200d August, the National\u2064 Weather Service (NWS) \u2064issued warnings to MECO and HECO about damaging winds and the potential for rapid fire\u2063 spread. The estimated cost to rebuild and restore the \u200cdamage caused by the Lahaina Fire \u200dis around $5 billion.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuit claims that Maui County suffered \u2064property\u200b losses, lost tax \u200crevenues, and other \u2064significant damages.<\/p>\n<p>Hawaiian Electric Industries,\u200d the parent company \u2063of HECO, MECO, and\u2063 HELCO, serves approximately 95 \u2063percent of Hawaii, including Maui County.<\/p>\n<p>The \u200dlawsuit highlights the defendants&#8217; ownership of\u2063 thousands of miles of electrical transmission and distribution lines, with 40 \u200cpercent underground, and HELCO&#8217;s ownership of 50,000 utility poles.<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Duty&#8217; to \u200dMaintain Equipment<\/h2>\n<p>The defendants had a responsibility to maintain and \u2064repair utility\u200c poles and power lines, \u200bincluding vegetation trimming, to ensure safety under all circumstances. Failure to do so is considered negligence and poses a serious risk to the public.<\/p>\n<p>The suit\u200d emphasizes that the defendants were aware of the vulnerability\u200d of \u200doverhead power lines to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pope-francis-multilateralism-must-not-be-stifled-by-nationalistic-demands\/\" title=\"Pope Francis: Multilateralism Must Not Be Stifled by \u2018Nationalistic Demands\u2019\">adverse weather conditions<\/a> and the likelihood of\u2064 contact with surrounding vegetation.<\/p>\n<p>These alleged \u2063failures contributed to the \u200dignition and rapid spread of the Maui fires, endangering lives and\u2063 causing extensive\u2063 destruction.<\/p>\n<h2>Tragic Losses and Ongoing Risks<\/h2>\n<p>Many \u200cLahaina residents \u2064tragically lost their \u2062lives while \u200cattempting to\u200d escape the advancing wildfire, trapped\u2062 in their vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>Maui County&#8217;s lawsuit seeks justice \u200dfor the \u200cdevastating consequences of the wildfires and \u2062aims to hold the defendants accountable for their alleged negligence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Maui County, the biggest county on Maui, is suing Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) for &#8220;gross negligence.&#8221; The lawsuit claims that the state&#8217;s public utility is responsible for wildfires that caused the death of 115 individuals and extensive damage to numerous structures. Maui County filed the civil action on Aug. 24 in the Second Circuit Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":2012763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2012762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2012762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2012762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2012763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2012762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2012762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2012762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}