The government of Maui County has announced a lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) saying that the company failed to power down electrical lines during a red flag windstorm and that sparks from downed lines ignited the recent wildfires which killed at least 115 people and caused billions in damages. The announcement alleges “HECO’s energized and downed power lines ignited dry fuel such as grass and brush, causing the fires. The lawsuit also alleges failure to maintain the system and power grid, which caused the systemic failures starting three different fires on August 8th.” Several Democrats were quick to blame the fires on climate change. But Clay Trauernicht, a University of Hawaii at Manoa professor and environmental management expert said, “Blaming this on weather and climate is misleading. Hawaii’s fire problem is due to the vast areas of unmanaged, nonnative grasslands from decades of declining agriculture.”
