(TheRedWire.com) – While the Democrats have argued that global warming is to blame for the devastating fires in Maui, Hawaiian officials have attributed the wildfires to the state’s main utility company’s alleged failures.
On Thursday, the Maui County government filed a lawsuit against the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) and its subsidiaries, which allegedly had failed to power down their live electrical equipment despite the red flag windstorm approaching. This failure had led to the power lines sparking several deadly fires across the island.
In their announcement of the filing, Maui County noted that the Defendants had acted negligently by not currently powering “down their electrical equipment” even though on August 7th, there had been a Red Flag Warning from the National Weather Service. The lawsuit further claims that these “energized and downed power lines” had led to the fires by igniting dry fuel, including brush and grass. The lawsuit also claims that the HECO had failed to maintain their system and power grid, resulting in systemic failures on August 8th that resulted in three fires being indicted that day.
Maui County claimed that it is HECO’s duty to ensure that all electric transmission lines are properly repaired and maintained and that all equipment associated with electricity transmission is maintained. They further claimed that the company needs to ensure that vegetation is properly trimmed so that it cannot come in contact with power lines and electric equipment that overheats.
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