More than two weeks after devastating wildfires claimed many lives and completely destroyed a city in Hawaii, Maui County announced it has filed a lawsuit against the archipelago’s main electricity supplier, Hawaiian Electric, which it accuses of failing to cut power before the disaster. AFP and Agerpres inform.

Hawaiian Electric is already the subject of several accusations and complaints from local residents. A video shot by some Maui residents shows a wind-damaged power line on the day of the disaster quickly engulfed in flames.

An investigation launched by local justice has not yet released its findings, but many local residents question Hawaiian Electric’s responsibility for starting the most destructive fires in the United States in a century, which killed at least 115 people. victims

“This destruction could have been avoided”

The company “acted negligently by failing to disconnect its electrical equipment from the high voltage grid,” despite warnings from the U.S. Weather Service, Maui County officials said in a statement.

Before the flames reduced the city of Lahaina to a pile of ash, Hawaii was already under a fire code red due to strong winds caused by Hurricane Dora, which was moving in the Pacific Ocean at a distance of several hundred kilometers from the archipelago.

According to the complaint filed in court, the Maui committee believes “this destruction was avoidable.”

Hawaiian Electric could have foreseen that the high winds would “knock down poles, power lines and ignite vegetation,” the plaintiffs added.

The electricity supplier was required to “properly maintain and repair power lines and other equipment, and ensure proper trimming and care of vegetation to avoid any contact with overhead power lines,” they said.

The plaintiffs alleged that Hawaiian Electric “also knew that if its electrical aerial equipment started a fire, it would spread at an extremely high rate” on the drought-stricken island.

How Hawaiian Electric defends itself

On Aug. 14, Hawaiian Electric CEO Sheli Kimura defended the company’s decision not to shut off power.

“In Lahaina, electricity powers the pumps that deliver the water,” she explained, noting that possible power outages could also be dangerous for the elderly and sick.

The Lahaina fire was initially declared under control in the morning, and firefighters were reassigned to fight other fires. But in the afternoon, the outbreak in Lahaina intensified again, and the flames completely engulfed the city.

Hawaii authorities announced this week that approximately 1,100 people are still missing.

Read also:

• VIDEO The scale of the fire that charred Lahaina in Hawaii. Radiographers and dentists were dispatched to identify the victims
• Devastating fires in Hawaii: Authorities expect to find 10 to 20 dead bodies every day