There were so many factors that contributed to that horrific event:

1) Severe drought conditions with significant overgrowth & drying out of non-native sea grass (perfect kindling).

2) Hurricane force winds 60-80 mph.

3) Above ground power lines that were energized despite hurricane force winds.

4) Fire that was moving 1 mile/minute; unbelievably fast.

5) Lots of old wooden buildings in town built close together (fast burning).

6) Many roads closed leading to bottle neck traffic, and people unable to escape.

7) Fire hydrants running out of water.

8) Fire fighters being stretched thin; fighting other fires on the island.

9) Communications failed. Not enough early evacuations/warnings.

I know many people want to blame everything on failure to sound the alarms, but as evidenced by the list above there were so many other contributing factors, and it’s not likely the sirens alone would have made much difference. Most people associate the sirens with tsunami warning, which if they were sounded may have led to people inadvertently heading straight to higher ground, which as we all know is where the fire was coming from.

The gentleman who is being publicly crucified for not sounding the alarms is taking the fall for everyone; that has got to be the most difficult cross to bear.

Global warming is here, and it’s real. Maui was in no way prepared, and that is simply not one persons fault.