The federal team's deployment came before the head of Maui's emergency management agency resigned.
The ATF has sent one electrical engineer, two Certified Fire Investigators, a Certified Fire Investigator Candidate and an Arson and Explosives Group Supervisor, the
reported. They are part of the agency’s National Response Team, which has been activated 21 times this fiscal year and 910 times since it was started in 1978,The FBI is also in the area to collect DNA samples from family members of those who remain missing.reported. More than 2,000 homes and businesses have been destoryed.
News of the federal officials came after State Attorney General Anne Lopez announced that a third-party private group would be conducting an independent investigation,reported. The group will look at the performances of agencies in preparing and responding to the fire. The information gathered will be used to make adjustments to the state’s response to future emergencies.
Meanwhile, the head of Maui’s Emergency Management Agency has stepped down. Administrator Herman Andaya resigned, citing unspecified health reasons,reported. No details of what those health reasons were given. His resignation was effective immediately. The agency had been criticized for not activating the island’s outdoor alert sirens. Andaya said that he was afraid that if they had been used, the people who needed to evacuate would go “mauka,” or a Hawaiian navigational term that means heading inland or toward mountains..“I’ve heard the line that ‘people would have panicked and ran up to the mountains because it’s a tsunami siren.
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