A life lost or a living community destroyed is beyond calculation, and Hawaii continues to mull over the tragedy of the Lahaina-destroying fire of August 2023.

A new government report came out last week giving more details.

The basics we already know: 102 confirmed fatalities and two missing, scores of injuries, and $5.52 billion in destruction.

Simply put it was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

The fire started when power lines were knocked down, setting off a blaze consuming 2,170 acres with 2,207 structures damaged.

The report prepared by the Maui Fire Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is the second of three government reports on the fire.

According to news accounts, Hawaiian Electric (HECO) has already agreed to pay $2 billion, about half of the $4 billion proposed total settlement for victims.

The details, however, are still being hashed out with insurance companies waiting to see what will be the final financial outcome.

With tears drying and some modest efforts at rebuilding underway, the question still remains: How good are we in learning from past disasters?

Given the history of Maui fires, I would not be passing out pats on the back.

First, the specifics. The fire was caused when power lines were “re-energized,” including one broken line “which caused the ejection of molten metallic material (sparks) to fall to the base of pole 25, igniting the unmaintained vegetation below.”

Then this happened later in the day: “continuation of the fire via rekindle was due to a hidden piece of smoldering material that made its way at an undetermined time via undetermined means to a susceptible fuel package in the gully just to the east and south of the existing burn area.”

That apparently means the fire was still burning but it was not noticed until it caught a whole mess of stuff ablaze.

As the report said, “The origin of the fire was the overgrown vegetation at and surrounding utility pole 25 off of Lahainaluna Road.”

The report said that the vegetation had “a high fire risk rating.”

HECO announced “more than $110 million in investments in 2024 to strengthen electric infrastructure against extreme weather conditions.” It is also setting up a program to shut off the power to endangered power lines.

Remember, Maui has gone down this fire road before. In 2018 there was a Maui wildfire that burned 21 houses, 27 cars and more than 2,100 acres, causing $4.3 million in damage; news reports called it “the most destructive wildfire in state history” — until August 2023. Now the Lahaina fire is called “the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.”

If Hawaii can learn from experience, handling fire threats may not be too high up on the list.

After the Maui fire in 2018, the Star-Advertiser reported that “Maui residents demanded better preparation and planning so that there would be better evacuation plans, the water supply for firefighting would not fail, and cell phones would work.”

Again Maui’s brush is dry, the windy winter weather is starting, and residents can just hope that some lessons have been learned.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.