“Deadly Maui Wildfires”

A series of breaking news reports by an Associated Press investigative team scrutinized the decisions that led to the 2023 Maui wildfire, the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. The four-person team’s findings revealed potential contributors to the wildfire’s spread including a lack of oversight on the part of the Hawaiian Electric Co. The reporting led to a class-action lawsuit against the utility company. 

The fire, which started on Aug. 8, was exacerbated by high winds from a passing hurricane. The historic town of Lahaina suffered the brunt of the fire’s damage. The cause was initially unclear, but video from residents, exclusively shared by the AP team, became critical evidence for establishing a potential culprit: downed power lines operated by Hawaiian Electric Co. The utility company experienced public criticism for not shutting off the power supply despite the high winds. The team’s reporting revealed that the company considered power shut-off to be a best practice for preventing wildfires in cases such as this. 

The AP team methodically combed through documents and open-source imagery to find egregiously insufficient infrastructure of Maui’s electrical grid – from spark-prone bare copper lines to power poles unable to withstand high winds. The journalists analyzed more than 950 photographs, finding flammable trash and landscape neglect by the Hawaiian Electric Co. in a high-risk fire area. The team also shared harrowing firsthand accounts from fire survivors, creating a detailed timeline of the blaze and underscoring critical failures by the Maui and Hawaii government.

The breaking news reporting by the AP investigative team highlights its attention to detail, its ability to maintain journalistic integrity under literal fire and its watchdog commitment to revealing the truth behind a devastating tragedy.

Article by: Leyla Shokoohe