Resignation comes in Hawaii wildfires

Herman Andaya, president of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, has resigned following allegations of negligence in the wildfires in the US state of Hawaii.

It has been reported that President Andaya, who came to the agenda with allegations of negligence, such as the failure of the disaster alert sirens regarding the fires in which 111 people lost their lives in Hawaii and the failure in the flow of power poles, resigned. Maui region officials noted that Andaya’s resignation, citing health reasons, was accepted by Maui Mayor Richard Bissen in a Facebook post.

In his written statement, Bissen stated that someone would be appointed to this important position immediately. Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said in a news release that an “impartial and independent” agency would evaluate the government’s response to the fire, which could take months.

NEGLIGENCE CLAIMS

Andaya responded to questions from the public at the press conference on the August 16 wildfires, regarding allegations that “the necessary precautions and negligence were not taken” in the fires for reasons such as disaster warning sirens. on the island of Maui when the forest fires started and flow was not interrupted on power poles.

When one of the accusations, “not using sirens,” was voiced, Andaya said that the island’s siren system was designed for tsunamis rather than wildfires, and that sirens were not part of fire response protocol.

Andaya stated that if the sirens sounded, people would try to go to higher places, and said she “does not regret” not sounding the sirens at the time of the incident. (AA)