Hawaii Official Worried About 'Equity' Over Water To Put Out Active Maui Fires

a reply to: NorthOfStuffx2

It isnt mentioned who initiated the request, not by any articles or during mayors speech. It may become known during the later investigation.
Fire dept may have asked to have the water available incase it spread to that Area; just speculating.

The person who raised this issue publicly, Glenn Tremble, LIC owner(launiopoko irrigation company) just happens to be West Maui Land/Peter Martin business partner... I could see why they would want to shine a light in another direction.

Paced the way for a new zero carbon island environment……

a reply to: S0R3N808

You sound like you’re familiar with the area. Would the water be released to an area where the fire department could access to draw it with their pumper trucks and suppression pumps?

A Hawaiian buddy says that the town was a protected heritage site and developers were itching to get their hands on the land to build mansions for the fat cats. Did you hear the same?

a reply to: S0R3N808

It is funny that you mention that the farms are small. The most flammable invasive grass was on many areas that were no longer worked as farms. Not farming that land made the area more flammable. Was irrigation restrictions responsible for this?

Again, why save water for irrigation while loosing the farms, homes, businesses and people in the fire? You are not being logical and neather was the beaurocrat in charge of the water.

originally posted by: S0R3N808
a reply to: FlyersFan

It most certainly would not have helped to divert water to these reservoirs during those hours, as firefighters could not have used the water or even accessed it.
What it would have done is shut the water off/reduced flow to farmers downstream, these farmers were in the impacted area during those hours.
The man deserves praise, and there is an active community effort to have him reinstated.

This story/publication appears to be an effort by local government to place blame on individuals instead of addressing the corruption that allowed the agricultural land owner surrounding Lahaina, West Maui Land Co/Peter Martin, to mismanage those lands in violation of state and federal guidelines for several years/fires.

There is so much ignorance in this thread! It makes me wonder about the posters when they post in other threads because they are posting about things they do not understand. SOR3N808 is giving accurate information. I am not using the word ignorance to call anyone names. I am using it to refer to the lack of knowledge most posters are exhibiting.

The equity they were talking about is not the same equity as DEI. They are talking about equity regarding water rights which is a big deal on Maui and subject to court decisions and agreements going back decades. While I agree that all that should have been set aside in an emergency, that water would have made no difference. You see, we have this thing called the Pacific Ocean and it is right there. They can dip all the firefighting water they need from there. I watch them do it all the time on the Big Island. It may not be the preferred choice but that's a different issue. But in any case, it's a moot point because the helicopters were grounded because of high winds.

The Lahaina hydrants are fed from huge tanks that rely on pumps. The pumps were not working because the power was off.

There is plenty to criticize about the decisions made over decades that led to the situation that caused the fires. There is plenty to criticize about government employees and politicians at all levels in Hawaii. But when you have the facts wrong and jump on something that pushes a political button for you, you only undermine your own credibility.