Well said sir.
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Just curious, were the power companies in any way asked to shut down local grids in front of the forecasted winds. Do they know for a fact that powerlines in fact started the fires in question. just seems a little early for the blame game.
Speaking from experience, in 2003 during the so cal siege, the Old Fire started under a very strong Santa Anna event, that fire quickly overwhelmed a massive response and destroyed countless structures in our community, it was devastating. Once the fire leaves the wildland and become established in the interface it just has to run it’s course…ain’t nothing you can do but just get out of the way …seems like a good bit of Monday morning quarterbacking taking place, there is nothing on earth that will prepare a community to deal with such a disaster. This is nearly like a Pompei event…There is a tremendous amount of real trauma that has to be processed…I truly hope the best for all involved…soon the media will be gone, and people will begin to move to the next big story… Recovery will be measured not in a few years but rather decades. Peace
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Yes, currently there are 6-8 USAR TF on scene or enroute. I believe only 2 are full teams, and the rest are Canine search teams.
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A resident videod the first fire and stated that the powerline started the fire further up lahainaluna road and shows multiple small fires In the sidewalk grass area across from him under the line and the same line on the ground. This fire was contained but flared up later
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Yeah, it seems like, “can’t they do something?” But there is really no clear air anywhere when the smoke and heat is blowing over sideways to breathe, let alone change scba bottles. It sucks for everybody. Lotsa sleep to be lost playing it over and over in their heads, but really nothing to be done. Take care all.
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I am glad that California is sending an IMT. Team 1 is professional and well practiced. They will bring their process and commitment to service to the incident and help the community begin to get moving towards their new normal. These types of incidents are actually icebergs…the worst part is the portion that you cannot see yet. The easiest day was the day the fire swept through the hardest days to are to come with the recovery and rebuilding. Good luck to Team 1 and thank you for your service.
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Awesome opportunity for CAL FIRE TEAM 1
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So far no indication that they have any sort of PSPS program on the Islands for fire. Overall minimal to no wildfire pre plans.
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USAR has about 25% of search area complete. Lahaina Fire 85% contained. Upcountry Fire 65% contained. Updates and information, including military deployments, from The Morning Call:
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Remember, this is not really a wildland fire assignment. The wildfire part of the response is over. The team is stepping into a transition from response to recovery and recovery missions. I really don’t think anyone should be expecting to see significant overhead requests and items that are expected in a wildfire response, because it is not. The CA team is in a unique position that most of the Federal teams are not.
This assignment will center on FEMA methods of recovery operations. They speak the language of “Community Lifelines” and their stabilization. Their mission probably includes assisting the local, state, and Federal response structure implementing the National Disaster Recovery Framework. That would include significant involvement in Family Assistance Centers (FACs), Family Reunification Centers (FRCs), Shelters, Commodity Distribution, Volunteer Management, Donation Management, working with the Military, interfacing and significant coordination with the EOC, any DOCs, AHJs, and FEMA IMATs and the SRT program. It also includes working to help the AHJ implement Debris Management, Commodity Distribution, and Evacuation and Re-population management if those plans have been developed. If not, they may be developing the framework for them on the fly in real time. Almost all of those are foreign terms and missions to the wildland fire discipline teams - this is the world of All-Hazards teams. Based on the overwhelming destruction of the infrastructure this will be a long term assignment of teams - if they work well in the recovery structure. Be careful what you ask for – the initiating cause (the fire) is pretty much no longer a factor, it is all about recovery.
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Lifelines Impacts (From SLB #5 as of 5:00 a.m. ET Aug 15)
Safety and Security:
- West Maui schools closed indefinitely
- Central Maui schools: Most opened yesterday for staff, will open this week for students; King Kekaulike HS will remain closed due to damages; repairs in progress
Food, Hydration, and Shelter:
- Shelters: Maui County –5 (-1) shelters open with 571 (-136) occupants (3 ARC, 3 independent)
- Central Maui: Free shuttle service for evacuees from central Maui shelters to central Maui shopping area and medical locations
Water Systems
- Unsafe water advisory still in effect in West Maui
- 4 water wells with intermittent interruptions to power impacting 300 households; USACE scheduled to install 2 generators later this week to provide temporary power
Health and Medical:
- 99 (+6) confirmed fatalities
Energy:
4,604 customers remain without power in Maui (SLB #5)
Communications:
Maui County:
- 19 (-1) cell towers offline
- Local cell providers deployed 14 assets to improve cellular service in West Maui, improving service to first responders and survivors
- AT&T deployed 1 cellular asset last night, expected to be online today, to strengthen communications capabilities for responders
--------------- Response Footprint---------
State / Local Response:
HI state EOC at Full Activation / Gov declared a SOE
FEMA / Federal Response:
- Major Disaster Declaration FEMA-4724-DR-HI approved Aug 10
- Region IX RWC continues to monitor
- IMAT-2 with ESFs 1 through 15 and DCE deployed to HI
- 1 LNO deployed to HI EOC (Oahu), 1 LNO in Maui
- 1 FCO in Maui, 1 in Oahu
FEMA HQ Activities:
- Region VII IMAT deployed to HI
- US&R: Blue IST, one NIMS Type 1 task force (WA-TF1), 1 NIMS Type 3 task force (NV-TF1), and 2 Mission Ready Canine Packages Canine Search and 15 additional single resource Canine Search Teams operational in Maui
- MERS personnel deployed to HI
- Staging Management Team (SMT) and Incident Support Base (ISB) team deployed to Maui
- First Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) to open today in Maui
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Just to be clear, CAL FIRE IMTs are “all hazard” teams and have handled multiple “non-wildand” responses for many years (decades even). The CF IMTs go through CIMC, AAIM, etc and are quite familiar with the national response framework
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That is exactly why I stated that.
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Copy that sir
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Not really sure I have been on a team deployment for a wildland fire in the last 10 years that did not morph into an “all hazards” incident. Pretty much every fire has had a huge component of recovery, infrastructure and risk mitigation. The issue does not exist with the teams( fed, local or state) but with the AHJ( EOC) being able to deal with the complexities of the incident.
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Anti govt sentiment is growing quickly on the island. Stories are erupting online about how locals are the only ones taking care of locals and “no uniforms” are around to help. People feel they’ve been failed. Couple that with nearby beaches still having some tourists doing their thing, this is going to be a very, very sensitive operation moving forward. I know the IMT folks will deliver 5 star service, but this event is dynamic still in many other ways than the fire. I just reread a quote that I’ve heard before online that stated, “It sure is tough to be a Hawaiian in Hawaii.”
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Please don’t hear what I didn’t say. I spent 20 plus years on a Fed team and would never say that. However, what I did say is
Please reread the list of subjects I listed. Are all the Fed teams well educated in those areas? Many of those documents, plans, structures, and processes are not in the wildland fire vernacular, because they are not commonly seen or needed on wildland fire deployments. Like another poster stated, “It is different.” I never said they didn’t know what they were doing, but it definitely isn’t a wildland fire and there can be a very steep learning curve when faced with those areas and little time to learn. They need IMTs that have that training and experience. Could they work? When I was on a Fed IMT we made it work. Granted, it wasn’t always pretty and it would have been a lot easier had we had the training in the subject area. Nowadays there are significantly higher expectations of IMTs on All-Hazards deployments, hence the AH training in those areas. The Local and regional Type-3 AHIMTs are making significant inroads but even they have to have additional training in those areas to effectively work within the recovery framework.
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The deployment of CF IMT 1 was ordered and filled STATE TO STATE. In other words, HI asked Ca at the level of Governor to Governor and California filled the order. A total of 60+ members are going.
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I would agree that there might be some non-wildland fire elements on a wildland fire. Sure, evacuation and repopulation is a common theme. There might be a hint of donation management, or even Points Of Distribution (PODs). But PODs are not Commodity Distribution, and short term evacuation usually doesn’t include dealing with Family Assistance Centers and Family Reunification Centers, or if they do it’s because they can rely on the AHJs EOC to implement those plans and you just refer folks to them. This type of an incident is different. The EOC is completely overloaded and it will probably be up to the IMT to pull the plan off the shelf (if they have one) update it, if needed, and then implement it – while the increasingly impatient and understandably irritated victims are waiting for you to “do something.” The situation can be exacerbated by AAs and AHJs who are not up to speed (I did not say that is true in this example) on all the plans policies and procedures necessary for effective management of a disaster.
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Yup - very true and I forgot to mention that.
EMAC, That is a whole other subject area that most wildland fire teams have not had to experience or deal with…
"It is important that Type 3 AHIMTs understand how the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) process works in the event the deployment is in response to an EMAC request.
EMAC is a State-to-State sharing of resources, including AHIMTs. Coordinating requests and providing resources between two States is primarily, if not exclusively, accomplished at the State level, usually performed by the requesting State’s State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC).
- an EMAC broadcast is a request that is simultaneously sent to multiple States for consideration. This might reresult in multiple responses from those States
- The EMAC process should include negotiations between the requestor and receiver
- Often times the cost estimate of the AHIMT is a major driving factor
It is essential that the AHIMT leadership and members understand this arrangement because in most instances, the requesting State or their designee (EMAC A-Team representative) will not have an adequate “on the ground” perspective of the situation your AHIMT will face. It is even possible that the primary individual(s) with whom the IC or the AHIMT may be interfacing for an EMAC assignment in a State EOC does not or do not know or understand what an AHIMT is or why the AHIMT feels the need to speak with someone in authority at the incident level or location where the AHIMT is coming to assist and work. This is very different from a wildfire deployment, where the ICT3 negotiates directly with the Agency Administrator who has requested an IMT/AHIMT.
There are many examples of AHIMTs being deployed through EMAC on National-level incidents in which the assignment, location, situation, etc., the AHIMT was given at the time of request and/or deployment turned out to be completely different than what they were told on arrival.
Once the AHIMT is informed of the actual or intended assignment for the team, it is critical that the ICT3 or leadership of the AHIMT request to speak with the AA, or at the very least with someone in a position of authority at the incident level.
During major/complex incidents in which an AHIMT is being requested for a National Tier assignment, most jurisdictions, including at the State level, are overwhelmed, or have never before experienced an incident of this scope and magnitude. Individuals who are coordinating the request for your AHIMT typically have several other active resource orders they are working on, so the ICT3 or leadership of the AHIMT needs to establish a good relationship with these individuals or entities so the ICT3 can obtain the contact information for the AA or their representative. The ICT3 may need to communicate, firmly but professionally, the importance of being able to speak with someone at the local incident level where the AHIMT is being assigned.
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