{"id":2015242,"date":"2023-08-29T10:09:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T14:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hawaiian-electric-denies-lawsuit-claims-alleging-power-lines-negligence-started-second-maui-wildfire\/"},"modified":"2023-08-29T10:13:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T14:13:18","slug":"hawaiian-electric-denies-lawsuit-claims-alleging-power-lines-negligence-started-second-maui-wildfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hawaiian-electric-denies-lawsuit-claims-alleging-power-lines-negligence-started-second-maui-wildfire\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawaiian Electric denies lawsuit claims of power lines and negligence causing second Maui wildfire."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/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%2Fhawaiian-electric-denies-lawsuit-claims-alleging-power-lines-negligence-started-second-maui-wildfire%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=2015242&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<p>Hawaiian Electric has denied \u2063claims \u2062that its power lines started\u2062 the deadly wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-judge-denies-request-to-sanction-kari-lake-over-election-lawsuit\/\" title=\"Arizona Judge Denies Request for Sanction Kari lake over Election Lawsuit\">county officials filed<\/a> a lawsuit accusing it of \u2064gross negligence.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement published Aug. 27,\u2064 the electricity company, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., said that while a fire that occurred \u2062in\u2064 the morning of Aug. 8\u2064 appeared\u200d to have been caused by power lines that fell in high winds, the Maui County Fire Department responded to\u200c that fire and reported it was &#8220;100 percent contained,&#8221; before\u200d leaving the scene\u2063 and later declaring it &#8220;extinguished.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The company also stressed that all of Hawaiian\u200d Electric&#8217;s power lines in West Maui had been de-energized for\u200b more than \u200csix \u2062hours by the time a second fire broke out in the Lahaina area in the afternoon \u2062at around 3 p.m.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/epochtv\/hope-for-hawaii-americas-hope-aug-23-post-5478698\">Hope for \u2062Hawaii | America\u2019s Hope (Aug. 23)<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/23\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/epochtv\/hope-for-hawaii-americas-hope-aug-23-post-5478698\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/biden-visits-hawaii-as-wildfire-rescue-efforts-continue-850-people-still-missing-5477817\">Biden Visits Hawaii as \u2064Wildfire Rescue Efforts Continue; 850 People Still Missing<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/21\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/biden-visits-hawaii-as-wildfire-rescue-efforts-continue-850-people-still-missing-5477817\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;There was no electricity flowing through\u2062 the\u200c wires in the area or anywhere else on the West Maui coast,&#8221; the company said, adding\u2064 that its own crew members had\u2062 seen the small fire roughly\u200d 75\u200d yards\u200c away from Lahainaluna Road in the field near the Intermediate School and immediately \u2064called 911 to report\u200d it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;By the time the Maui County Fire\u200d Department arrived back on the scene, it was not able to contain \u2063the afternoon fire, and it spread out of control \u200ctoward Lahaina,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The cause of the fire has not yet been determined,&#8221; the company \u2064added.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Fire \u200bdamage in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. \u200b21, 2023. (Mandel \u200cNgan\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"engaging-heading\">&#8216;Important\u200b Lessons to Be \u200bLearned&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;Our \u2063hearts \u2063and hands are with the people of Lahaina and Maui,&#8221; said Shelee Kimura, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric, \u200cadding that there are &#8220;important lessons to \u200dbe learned from this tragedy by all\u200b of us collectively, and we are resolved to figure out what we need to do to keep \u200bour communities safe as climate issues rapidly intensify here and around the globe.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The statement came after Maui County last week filed \u2063a\u2064 lawsuit in the \u2063Second Circuit \u200dCourt against Hawaiian Electric\u200d Industries (HEI) and its affiliates, Maui Electric Co. (MEC)),\u2063 Hawaiian Electric Co. \u2064(HECO), and Hawaiian Electric Light Co. (HELCO), accusing the utility of \u200cnegligently failing to\u200b shut off power despite high winds and dry conditions,\u2062 causing the devastating\u2063 fires\u200c that destroyed the coastal \u200dtown.<\/p>\n<p>The fires \u2064broke\u2063 out \u2064shortly after the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that &#8220;strong and gusty&#8221; winds \u2064from Hurricane Dora, combined with dry weather, were likely to produce &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/power-companies-accused-in-lawsuit-of-ignoring-warnings-before-maui-wildfires\/\" title=\"Power companies sued for ignoring warnings prior to Maui wildfires.\">high fire danger<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Had \u200cthe defendants heeded \u200cthe \u200cNWS warnings and de-energized their power lines during the <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\u200d been avoided,&#8221; the lawsuit reads.<\/p>\n<p>Hawaiian Electric\u2064 had a duty &#8220;to properly maintain and repair the electric transmission lines, and other \u2062equipment including \u2062utility poles associated with\u200b their transmission of electricity, and to keep vegetation\u200d properly trimmed\u200b and\u200d maintained \u2063so as to prevent contact with overhead power lines and other electric\u2062 equipment,&#8221;\u200d it adds, citing aging infrastructure.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Search and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hawaiian-electric-denies-lawsuit-claims-alleging-power-lines-negligence-started-second-maui-wildfire\/\" title=\"Hawaiian Electric denies lawsuit claims of power lines and negligence causing second Maui wildfire.\">recovery\u2064 team members \u2064check charred buildings<\/a> and \u2062cars in the aftermath \u2062of the Maui wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii,on Aug. 18, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"engaging-heading\">Thousands Still Missing<\/h2>\n<p>Approximately 115 people were killed in the Lahaina \u2064fire, and\u200c officials\u200c say more than 1,000 are still missing,\u200d many of them\u200c believed to be children.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the fires caused widespread destruction,\u2064 which will likely cost an estimated $6 billion in \u200d<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-issues-disaster-declaration-for-texas-amidst-severe-winter-weather\/\" title=\"Biden Issues Disaster Declaration For Texas Amidst Severe Winter Weather\">recovery efforts<\/a>, according to Hawaii Gov. \u200cJosh \u2064Green.<\/p>\n<p>Hawaiian Electric said Sunday it is &#8220;surprised and disappointed that the County of Maui rushed to court even before completing its own investigation&#8221; into the fires.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We believe the complaint is factually and legally irresponsible,&#8221; Ms. Kimura said. &#8220;It\u200d is inconsistent with \u200bthe path that we believe we should pursue as a resilient\u200b community committed and accountable to each \u2063other as well as \u2063to Hawaii&#8217;s future.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We continue to stand ready to work to that end with our communities <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hawaiian Electric denies responsibility for the Maui wildfires, dismissing allegations of negligence. The company, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., released a statement on Aug. 27 refuting claims made by county officials. They assert that the fire, which broke out in the morning, was not caused by their power lines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":2015243,"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-2015242","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\/2015242","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\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2015243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}