Hawaii wildfires: Key official quits after facing criticism for not activating sirens during Maui wildfires

livemint.com:

Maui's Emergency Management Agency chief Herman Andaya quit abruptly on Thursday while citing health reasons. The resignation by Andaya came a day after the key official said that he did not regret not using the sirens to warn about the wildfires that have claimed the lives of at least 111 people. Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen accepted Andaya's resignation effective immediately and noted that someone else would be appointed in his place soon.

“Given the gravity of the crisis we are facing, my team and I will be placing someone in this key position as quickly as possible," Blissen said in a statement quoted by AP. While explaining the logic behind not using sirens to make the people aware of the wildfires, Andaya had said on Wednesday (as quoted by AFP), "The sirens are used primarily for tsunamis. The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren is sounded…Had we sounded the siren that night, we're afraid that people would have gone (into the hills)...

into the fire." He also noted that the 121-decibel warning by the sirens might not have been heard by anyone owing to a lot of indoor and outdoor noise. He said, "A lot of people who are indoors, air conditioning on whatever the case may be, they're not going to hear the siren…Plus the winds were very gusty (that day)... it was very loud, so they wouldn't have heard the sirens." In response to a question about if using sirens could have saved some lives, one survivor told CBS News, “Absolutely, I don't think I know.

We all are prepared for that, we know that sound" She added, “The community, the Lahui itself is taking care of one another. There is no outside government officials taking care of us. They don't care about us, they don't care about