Maui’s emergency sirens didn’t go off as wildfires ravaged island: officials

Blaring warning sirens throughout Maui failed to activate as the apocalyptic wildfires swept through the island, officials said Friday.

The Hawaii Emergency Services Administration confirmed that the emergency system it tests every month in preparation for a crisis was not turned on as the flames raced toward residents.

Instead, HI-EMA sent out alerts via mobile devices. radio and television, and the county’s opt-in resident alert system — which may have never arrived due to widespread power and cellular outages across Maui.

“Neither Maui nor HI-EMA activated warning sirens on Maui during the wildfire incident,” the agency said in a statement.

“The sirens are used to alert the public to seek additional information; they do not necessarily indicate an evacuation.”

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said it wasn’t clear why the sirens weren’t activated, but that the fire destroyed much of the equipment.

Many survivors who didn’t receive or notice the alerts said they didn’t realize the danger they were in until they saw the inferno or heard explosions nearby.

“There was no warning. There was absolutely none. Nobody came around. We didn’t see a fire truck or anybody,” said Lynn Robinson, who lost her home in the fire.

At least 55 people were killed in the disaster, though officials expect the death toll to climb in the next few days.

About 1,000 people are still missing.

Residents of Lahaina were being allowed back home on Friday for the first time since they fled the wildfires — only to find that the historic community was flattened into a hellscape of ashen rubble.

Survivors were seen wandering through the skeletal remains of centuries-old buildings and landmarks that made the tropical island a popular tourist destination.

A traffic jam of incinerated cars that couldn’t outpace the fire lay destroyed in the street where they were consumed by the intense flames.

Some palm trees managed to remain erect but were completely torched, and boats in the harbor were burned nearly to a crisp.

The fires were so intense in Lahaina that survivors were forced to flee into the ocean to escape the extreme heat.

Many survivors returned to find that their lives were their only belongings that survived the inferno.

At least three wildfires erupted on Maui this week, fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane.

It is projected to be the second deadliest disaster in Hawaii’s history, behind only Hurricane Iniki in 1992, according to calculations by Karen Clark & Company, a prominent disaster and risk modeling company.

On Friday, Lauren Sánchez announced that she and her fiance Jeff Bezos were committing $100 million to the island’s recovery efforts.

“Jeff and I are heartbroken by what’s happening in Maui,” Sánchez wrote on Instagram.

“We are thinking of all the families that have lost so much and a community that has been left devastated. The immediate needs are important, and so is the longer term rebuilding that will have to happen — even after much of the attention has subsided.”

The couple are the latest celebrities to lend a hand in the wake of the tragedy — part-time Maui resident Oprah Winfrey was spotted volunteering at a makeshift shelter Thursday and pro-golfer Collin Morikawa announced he’d be donating $1,000 for every birdie he makes during the FedEx Cup playoffs.

The federal government released food and water to support 5,000 people for five days after President Biden issued a federal disaster declaration for the islands on Thursday.

Maui residents are under a strict curfew from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. Saturday.

With Post wires