Global National: Aug. 12, 2023 | How Maui was caught off guard by catastrophic wildfires

The death toll from the wildfires in Maui now stands at 80, and about a thousand people remain missing. The fire is now mostly contained and some survivors are returning to find their community in ruins. Global’s Neetu Garcha is in Maui and has been speaking with evacuees including a Canadian school principal.

Residents say the wildfires hit without warning and some are now demanding to know why their large seaside community was caught off guard. As Reggie Cecchini explains, experts say this fire offers lessons for the future.

At least six asylum seekers have been killed after their boat sank in the English Channel. It’s the latest in a string of similar tragedies. More than 1,000 migrants have tried to make the journey to the UK by boat in just the last two days. As Touria Izri reports, those who survived the journey, face tough, new immigration measures.

With no end in sight to the war in Ukraine, tensions are rising in neighbouring Poland – particularly along its border with Belarus. The Polish government claims Belarussian military helicopters entered its airspace at the beginning of the month. In response, Poland’s government ordered 10,000 troops to the border to bolster defences – while on the other side, mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner group are reportedly training Belarussian forces. Those military maneuvers are making NATO nations nervous. Tonight, Crystal Goomansingh looks at the work underway to keep Poland safe.

Artificial Intelligence just might join you on your next vacation. Tourism Jasper in Alberta’s rocky mountains is now using AI in hopes of making the destination more popular. And they’re not alone- as Heather Yourex-West explains, applications like ChatGPT and Oliver A.I. are taking the industry by storm.

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[coleedwards]

We just returned from our trip to Maui. We saw this unfold, and we were fortunately redirected by a Maui police officer 100 feet from Front Street. Absolutely no words for what I saw going through Lahaina on Friday, and it felt so wrong driving through there.

I feel guilt and shame for not being able to do more for you and your families. I'm so sorry to all the families that continue to be impacted by this. Thank you to everyone who helped my family while we had nowhere to go. You came to our aid even when you had your entire world falling apart, and thank you is not enough for us to relay our gratitude to the residents of Maui. Thank you for allowing us to travel to your home and see the beauty of Maui and her residents. The beauty continues to shine through even when under this dark cloud. Your community quite literally saved my wife, kids, my inlaws, and myself. I wish I could've done more for you.

I am forever in debt to the residents of Maui, and I will never forget what you did for my family and I. I'm sorry for the long post, I have so much I want to say, and it feels impossible to put any of it into words. I will take what I've learned from your kindness and will do the same for others moving forward no matter the circumstances, and I will do my part to honor and show the incredible loving and caring nature of your love ones lost. Mahalo to all of you and know that you will always be in our thoughts and prayers.

[DV-czkz]

You don't need A.I. to plan your itinerary.. You just need to know how to use your brain.

[woolyhighlander]

I know "talk is cheap" but, what a waste, they have a whole ocean of water right beside the town, all they needed was a few big Engine driven Pumps always maintained and on standby.! Like we had years ago for "air raid sirens".

[coolkidsbros]

May all the people who lost their lives Rest In Peace and my deepest condolences to their family and friends.

[brega]

Should have 24 hour watch in high fire condition and people who have the AUTHORITY to sound the alarms (that are all over Hawaii) without waiting for permission. Dependance on cell phones and internet is not safe in any emergency.

[dperezm]

Looks like Paradise California all over again. Not natural fire burning.

[kathrynmoffatt]

From Midland, Michigan my heart is with the people of Maui. I was fortunate to visit in 1976 and spent a day in Lahaina. I loved my short time there. This makes me so sad. I will pray for you.
Stay strong.

[tessietesoro]

Praying for healing, recovery, strenght, and those who died, may they rest in peace. 🙏🙏🙏

[odyshopody]

Living in Northern California I know of similar disasters here, about 30 years ago the Berkley hills caught on fire during high winds and burnt down hundreds of homes, that fire killed a lot of people . Then recently I think 5 years ago there was another large fire in the Napa area that again was due to high winds and downed power lines. That fire burned through the town at night killing a lot of people in their beds, I remember a couple who had to jump into their pool to survive because it was to late to get out. My sister lives on Maui so I've been there many times, I pray they find most of the missing alive, so sad seeing all that devastation!

[PastaSausta]

These types of scenarios are absolutely heartbreaking, but they truly show humanity. There were so many people helping others and taking care of others. This is the only beauty to come from such tragedy.

[vickikyvrikosaios]

‼️From a resident of Maui:

“What you’re not hearing from our local government…

I just got out of a meeting where I was informed by someone in the Mayor’s office about developments that are being kept from the public. I am not a conspiracy theorist and I don’t want to make trouble but here’s what I’ve heard:

- The amount of fatalities is expected to be more than 500 but less than 1000.
Many of the fatalities will be children who were at home because they canceled school. Parents worked and were not there to evacuate the children. Kids had no idea they needed to leave and by the time they noticed their homes or apartments were on fire, it was too late.

- The government is worried about how we will react when we learn that the fire department left the fire earlier in the day and claimed it was 100% contained knowing that the winds were expected to be 70mph by the afternoon. This is against all fire control protocols. The fire department should not have left the original fire unattended.

- They are scared that the public calls for accountability will be more than they can control and protests and riots will occur.

- They plan to lock down Lahaina for several months. It will take months to clean up the hazardous and environmental contamination.

- They won’t have enough housing for All the displaced.

-There were 2, 000 unaccounted for this morning. They have a list where they are trying to keep track. They found 700 today. But there are still 1300 missing.

- They are very worried that the community is going to freak out when they find out how not a single fire truck responded to the fires.

- The emergency sirens were not activated (hurricane sirens) and loss of life could have been kept down by better emergency management which utterly failed.”

If you ask me, this is not incompetence, it’s a planned crisis…

[rottenrabbit]

They didn't think their government would have people aiming an energy weapon at them. Anyone would be caught off guard by that.

[dianekay]

I was so blessed to be able to go to Maui and we did go to Lahaina one evening during our stay. It is devastating to see what has happened there. Sending love, light, strength, and prayers to all those affected by this horrible tragedy.

[thelampstands]

Were or what fuel was used along the roads where the melted cars were shown? Not much vegetation in some of those area..

[sherrinvale]

The towns and communities that were destroyed in bushfires here in Victoria, Australia have been rebuilt and are once again thriving. Lahaina will do the same.

[firouz]

I am Iranian and saw the war with Iran break out in 1980.
My hometown Abadan city looked exactly like this after 3 days!
I am shocked and wish all the best for the people of Maui.
May you all be safe and strong enough to rebuild your town.
Abadan was never rebuilt by the Iranian terrorist Mullah regime.

[godisking-crnb]

A whole town burnt to the ground 😥. This is crazy, and I've never seen fire melt metal steel 😳. Energy weapons.

[krysiach]

They are not telling everything... is danger to ppl.

[Me-lbnd]

AI has a way to go before I would trust it. I asked GPTChat to list all the German verbs containing "halt" and it gave me some that were OK but others that did not contain "halt". I pointed that out and it apologized, but on the next try it failed again. This went on for a long time, and I finally told the AI that wasn't doing too well. It got upset - really!!!! - and fell all over itself apologizing. There's no way in hell I would trust it to get me a flight or make hotel bookings, etc. Might wind up somewhere in a desert or the north pole, when all you wanted to do was visit your grandkids in Saskatoon!

[mateocafe]

Just horrible. The poor people and the historic town destroyed. It is hard to imagine.