Maui fires cut phones, stopping ability of ‘coconut wireless’ neighbour network to warn of dangers

Emergency management sirens also may have failed to warn residents

Earlier this week, rapidly moving wildfires knocked out phone service on Maui, preventing the usual local “coconut wireless” network of neighbours informing each other of the latest news from warning residents on the island they were in danger, according to Hawai’i Governor Josh Green.

“Normally, we would phone cal one another, and through what’s often called the ‘coconut wireless,’ where everyone speaks to everyone else in their community, we would know right away that there was danger,” he told CNN on Friday. “That communication was cut off by the destruction of essentially 1000 degree heat that was coming down the mountain.”

According to records from emergency management officials on the island, the state’s 400 emergency warning sirens didn’t trigger as fires sped towards the historic town of Lahaina this week, The Associated Press reports.

An aerial image taken on August 10, 2023 shows destroyed homes and buildings burned to the ground in Lahaina in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui, Hawaii (AFP via Getty Images)

The govenor said on Friday he’s authorised a full review to ascertain “exactly what happened and when” with the alert system.

“Next week, and starting tomorrow, we’ll see a lot more certainty about how many individuals have perished,” he added on CNN.

“[Hawai’i] is also rural and the most isolated land mass in the planet,” he said, “which means you don’t have access immediately to poles when you want to get electricity fixed all the time. You don’t have access to all of the workforce that you might expect.”

At least 67 people have died in the Hawaiian wildfires, according to officials.

An estimated 1,000 people may be missing, according to the Hawaiian Department of Defense, though they cautioned yesterday that that figure is unconfirmed.

Over 11,000 people have been evacuated as a result of the fires.

On Thursday, the Biden administration declared the wildfires, which burned areas across Maui, Hawai’i, and Oahu, a major federal disaster, freeing up additional relief resources.

More than 1,000 structures have been burned in the fires, according to officials.

The fires have caused particular damage on Maui, where much of the historic town of Lahiana was burnt to the ground.

The disaster is among the worst in state history, with the death toll now greater than the 61 people who died in a 1961 tsunami.