A Maui County-commissioned report on improvements needed at the Maui Emergency Management Agency (MEMA), made public last week, creates a “road map” for a MEMA makeover. Vital priorities include: updating Maui County’s 15-year-old emergency operations plan to include carefully prepared, adaptable protocols for varied emergencies; well-delineated responsibilities among leadership and staff; communications strategies that can be implemented under emergency conditions; effective, continuous training for readiness; and adequate staff.
These recommendations, indeed necessary, must be considered mandatory, as should MEMA’s current “deep commitment to making improvements.” The need for capable emergency management is life-or-death urgent.
That sense of urgency is one major thing missing from the new Maui Wildfires 2023 After-Action Report, released a full 17 months after Lahaina burned. MEMA’s abject failure to prepare or respond adequately to the danger of fire is documented, but couched in far-too-gentle terms.
Given the grievous loss inflicted on Lahaina when the devastating Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire tore through town, causing 102 deaths (with two people still unaccounted for) and widespread destruction, the report’s banal description of the fire as “testing” Maui County’s emergency response capabilities and “marking a pivotal moment for learning and growth” is exceedingly tone deaf.
The report calls for “ownership” of emergency management responsibilities going forward; given that lives were lost, MEMA must also take ownership of its ineffectiveness in 2023.
The report’s “Observation #1” urges “clarification and education” so that MEMA’s management and staff understand the agency’s legal authority/mandate and are trained to follow established policies under emergency conditions. This observation is based on a finding that in August 2023, MEMA’s Emergency Operating Center (EOC) staff “may not have” understood what was expected of them, or how to carry out these responsibilities in a crisis. There should be no hedging in that statement, as the collapse in EOC operations has been thoroughly documented.
The report, prepared by Denver-based contractor AC Disaster Consulting, examines MEMA efforts under the leadership of then-Administrator Herman Andaya and at the EOC between Aug. 7 and Aug. 11, 2023. EOC staff had little training and “no prior experience” with emergency “activations” when the wildfire broke out, the report notes, along with “a limited understanding of the EOC’s functions.” Confusion reigned — resulting in fatal consequences.
MEMA now has a new administrator in Amos Lonokailua-Hewett, a retired Maui fire battalion chief who took over in January 2024. Lonokailua-Hewett was with the Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety during the August 2018 Lahaina wildfire — a serious event in itself that Maui County failed to learn hard lessons from.
But today, MEMA’s chief stated, “We are definitely more prepared to address a similar situation. The fire that happened in 2023 challenged every system, every resource in the county. MEMA needs to have the capacity to surge and meet that demand when it is needed.”
Since Lonokailua-Hewett took office, MEMA has more than doubled in size — to 22 full-time positions from nine — and recruitment to raise staffing levels continues. Nine trained “reserve support” staff positions are also being created. The essential work of establishing coordination with emergency responders in every county department is also underway. Let’s ensure that more quantity raises the quality of emergency response.
Updating the emergency operations plan to incorporate various county agency roles is urgently necessary, as is focused leadership. MEMA must wholly understand and acknowledge its failings in the August 2023 wildfires, and recommit to full readiness to protect Maui in the future.
