When the Maui Emergency Management Agency named Darryl Oliveira its interim administrator in the wake of the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires that killed more than 100 people, they tapped the extensive experience of a career Big Island first responder and emergency manager.
The 63-year-old retired Hawaii Fire Department chief and Hawaii County Civil Defense administrator was uniquely qualified to help the Valley Isle deal with the aftermath of the fires that destroyed more than 2,200 structures, mostly residential, in Lahaina and Kula, causing an estimated $5.5 billion in damage. Oliveira has responded and planned responses to calamities and natural disasters — including volcanic eruptions and wildfires — most of his adult life.
“One of the things that hit me immediately, after I got onto the ground in August 2023, two weeks after the fire, was the environment in the Lahaina area, as well as upcountry, are similar environments to what we have on the Big Island,” Oliveira told the Tribune-Herald recently. “With Lahaina, the topography, the vegetation, the climate, the wind factors that influenced behavior, felt like many parts of West Hawaii — everywhere from, say, Akoni Pule Highway down through Kona.
“It felt like this fire could’ve happened on any one of the islands. And, as the Maui fires were ongoing, we were having fires in the Kohala Estates, Kohala Ranch area, as well. It just reinforced that we are having these wildfire threats on every one of the islands, given the types of fuels and climates that we have.”
The 60 mph winds and 80 mph gusts whipped up in the wake of Hurricane Dora damaged or decimated seven structures in West Hawaii. Among the buildings destroyed was a warehouse containing all the maintenance equipment for the Mauna Kea Golf Course.
“It couldn’t been a lot worse, the way things went that day,” said Talmadge Magno, Hawaii County’s current Civil Defense administrator. “One thing we learned that day is to be thinking beyond what we can see, that things can blow up, and we need to be ready for that. Now, with our Red Flag Warning situations, the way we ramp up, we scale up to where we can handle a little bit more.
“But something like what happened on Maui, you get overwhelmed so fast, it basically comes down to life safety — working on evacuation plans for communities in Hawaii County and knowing what our procedures are and how we maintain communities.”
An investigation found that the Lahaina fire was caused by downed power lines from the high winds that flattened about 30 utility poles. By the time authorities knew what was happening, the deadly conflagration already was raging, spreading quickly by the winds and destroying both lives and property.
“I think everyone has taken something away from the Lahaina fire and are improving their systems,” Oliveira said. “I think, across the state, everyone is looking at communication and how we can all sort of build out and add complementary communication tools to keep the community informed of issues as they’re developing, and provide them with the best information to make good decisions, including early decisions on evacuating, temporary relocation, those sorts of things.
“I think one of the things that I shared with Mayor (Mitch) Roth is the difficulties we had trying to house the survivors. And the numbers, at one point while I was there, were in excess of 8,000 survivors in the hotels. But if you look at a tsunami event, we have over 100,000 people across the state living in the inundation area, along with businesses and critical infrastructure that would be potentially impacted.”
Another lesson learned, Oliveira said, is “helping people realize the significance of insurance.”
“When I was on the ground on Maui talking to many of the survivors, they were underinsured,” he said. “And now, post-impact, trying to recover, I think people are living with this myth that FEMA is going to make you whole after a disaster. And that’s not the case. There’s a cap on the payout that FEMA will provide under the Individual Assistance Program. And I want to say that for Hawaii, that number is less than $40,000.
“So, for homeowners who didn’t have insurance or were underinsured, and now just have a small settlement or payout under the Individual Assistance Program, they don’t have the financial resources to rebuild. And the cost of construction has gone up. This just reminds us to do what we can to protect ourselves both from a prevention standpoint and from a recovery standpoint. Do we have the insurance we need to help get us back on our feet?”
That’s a concern shared by Big Islanders who lost their homes in the 2018 Kilauea eruption in lower Puna — when many policies, notably those issued by underwriters with the Lloyd’s of London seal, either refused to pay out or failed to cover the cost of rebuilding homes lost.
“My insurance is from a local insurance agent with a local office, which makes it easy to sit down and talk through your policy, versus maybe shopping for insurance and getting a policy from a large corporation that’s off-island,” Oliveira said.
He also acknowledged that for Big Islanders living in lava inundation zones 1 or 2, their choice of insurers is drastically limited.
The state-run Hawaii Property Insurance Association, a last-resort underwriter with high premiums for those unable to find another carrier, is now the only option for many.
Oliveira, who has returned to his position as a risk manager for HPM Building Supply, serves on the Hawaii Advisory Council on Emergency Management, an advisory board to Gov. Josh Green that meets quarterly. Magno and his emergency management counterparts for the state and other counties also serve on the council.
“I know some of the conversations taking place with lessons learned from Lahaina and with climate change are what are some of the land use and fuel management practices specific to wildfire that may need to be stepped up and also maintenance strategies?” Oliveira said. “The other thing is, the preparedness of the community, how important that is, with making sure community members understand the risks and threats they live with, what they, as individuals, can do to help mitigate the risks and be better informed.
“And then, how do they get information to make timely decisions for themselves? Where are they going to turn to? How is government providing information to keep the community informed of situations as they’re evolving or developing? And how are they encouraging swift decision-making to get yourself out of harm’s way?”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.