Maui Sues Cellular Carriers Over Wildfire Alerts That Were Never Received During Service Outages

HONOLULU– If emergency crews had known about widespread cell phone outages during the height of Maui’s deadly wildfires last summer, they would have used other methods to warn of the disaster, county officials said in a court filing.

Alerts the county sent to cellphones warning people to evacuate immediately were never received, without the county’s knowledge, the lawsuit said.

Maui authorities were unable to activate the sirens that would have alerted the entire population to the approaching flames. That raised questions about whether everything was done to alert the public in a state that has an elaborate emergency warning system for a variety of dangers, including wars, volcanoes, hurricanes and wildfires.

Major wireless carriers were negligent in failing to adequately inform Maui police about widespread service outages, county officials said in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court against Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, Spectrum Mobile and AT&T.

“We continue to support the Maui community as it recovers from the tragic wildfires, but these claims are unfounded,” T-Mobile said in a statement Thursday. “T-Mobile wirelessly transmitted emergency alerts to customers while locations remained operational, promptly sent necessary outage notifications, and quickly contacted state and local emergency agencies and services.”

A Spectrum representative declined to comment, and the other carriers did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

A flurry of lawsuits has emerged since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the historic town of Lahaina and killed 101 people.

Maui County is a defendant in several lawsuits over its emergency response during the fires. The county is also suing Hawaiian Electric Company, alleging the utility negligently failed to turn off power despite unusually strong winds and dry conditions.

In Maui’s latest legal action, the county’s lawyers say if the county is found liable for the damages, then the “conduct of the wireless carriers substantially contributed to the damages” against the county.

“On August 8 and 9, 2023, as the county’s courageous first responders battled fires across the island and worked to provide first aid and evacuate individuals to safety, the county notified people in the vicinity of the danger via multiple alerts and warnings, including via direct text messages to individual cell phones,” the lawsuit said.

The county sent at least 14 cellphone alert messages warning residents to evacuate, the lawsuit said. The county later discovered that all 21 cell towers serving West Maui, including in Lahaina, suffered total failure.

“As of the date of this order, the wireless carriers have not yet reported to the County the true extent and scope of the disruptions in cellular service on August 8 and 9, 2023, as they are required to do under federal law,” the said the process. “If cell phone carriers had accurately reported to the County the complete and widespread failure of dozens of cell sites across the island, as they were required to do by law, the County would have used different methods in its disaster response and alerts. ”