The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency has resigned after receiving major backlash after refusing to activate the island’s world-renowned alarm system.
Herman Andaya resigned on Thursday and even said he does not regret not activating the alarm system.
Andaya claims the reason he did not activate the alarm system was due to he believed people would start running to the mountains which is where the blaze was raging.
Watch Andaya here:
Hawaii official emergency services chief, Herman Andaya, resigns amid backlash, when asked if he regrets not sounding the alarm to alert residents of wildfires he responded, “I do not.”
Should he face criminal charges?
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) August 18, 2023
🚨 #BREAKING: Maui Emergency Management Agency director Herman Andaya, who made reportedly made the final decision AGAINST activating the emergency sirens in Lahaina, Maui, has RESIGNED.
The sirens were meant to alert residents of imminent tsunamis, wildfires, terrorist attacks,… pic.twitter.com/zqj56bB87V
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) August 18, 2023
Here’s what the Associated Press reported:
Outdoor alert sirens on Maui stayed silent as a ferocious fire devastated the seaside community of Lahaina last week. The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency said he had no regrets about not deploying the system as a warning to people on the island.
ADVERTISEMENTA day after making that statement, Administrator Herman Andaya resigned Thursday. Andaya had said he feared blaring the sirens during the blaze could have caused people to go “mauka,” using a navigational term that can mean toward the mountains or inland in Hawaiian.
“If that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire,” Andaya explained.
But the decision not use the sirens, coupled with water shortages that hampered firefighters and an escape route clogged with vehicles that were overrun by flames, has brought intense criticism from many residents following the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century. At least 111 people were killed.
Reporter grills Maui Emergency Operations Chief Herman Andaya over not sounding the alarm on Maui.
Andaya: “The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the sirens sounded. If that was the case, then they would've gone into the fire." pic.twitter.com/pkOVEfUVwB
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) August 17, 2023
Per CBS:
The head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency resigned his post on Thursday in the wake of significant criticism for his agency’s response to the Lahaina fire, which has claimed the lives of at least 111 people — the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.
Maui County officials said in a news release that MEMA Administrator Herman Andaya had resigned “effective immediately” due to “health reasons.”
“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible and I look forward to making that announcement soon,” Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said in a statement.
When the Maui wildfires broke out Aug. 8, residents said they were not evacuated and none of the island’s warning sirens sounded for evacuation.
Maui’s Emergency Operations Chief Herman Andaya RESIGNS, effective Immediately
This came just after Andaya said he “has no Regrets Not Using Sirens” to warn people of the wildfires.
He needs to be investigated. Resigning is not good enough.
Videohttps://t.co/r77O03Tgrt… pic.twitter.com/LeBRmNHC4X
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) August 18, 2023
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!