Maui community reacts to emergency chief's resignation

The heavily-criticized head of the Maui Emergency Management Agency has resigned. Herman Andaya cited health reasons for stepping down a day after he rejected criticism for not activating warning sirens as the wildfire swept into Lahaina. CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti reports.

#news #maui #wildfire

[berniel]

He resigned "Due to health reasons." People in government positions never say "I'm sorry."

[janetbaker]

Him resigning should not absolve him of any kind of blame. He still needs to answer for what he did or didn't do.

[amitsunoko]

Its easy to resign but hard to accept accountability and facts.

[damnjustassignmeone]

Witnesses describe police blocking the way out of Lahaina on front street. I’d like to know the story there.

[cheyennehampton]

The person who hired him should be held accountable also…… knowing that he was not qualified

[erikh]

So he was on a different island when someone called him to ask to turn on the alarm but he said no? He has complete control?

[patrickv]

All of those poor people who lost their lives and love ones or heart and prayers goes out to all of you.
Did the civil Director resign for health reasons or did he resign so he could keep his government pension/retirement. If you get fired for neglect, You can lose it all!

[ruthmachain]

This guy gives new meaning to incompetent & gross negligence. His excuses are beyond lame & certainly don’t mitigate his accountability. Quite obvious he wasn’t hired due to his knowledge, expertise, education, & training. Perhaps it was merely political considerations.

[gonefishing]

I heard that 40 more qualified candidates were passed over to hire this individual. I wonder who hired him. Was it the mayor who appointed him? Someone should be held accountable for that poor decision hiring decision.

[kimberlyberkhahn]

He took the pay off and is running. Unbelievable

[SecondsDreamComingTrue]

I DO NOT REGRET NOT ACTIVATING THE SIRENS. Can you imagine saying this, what a coward. I love the spirit of the community and the members of the community. Lahaina residents everyone of you deserves both accountability and hopefully justice. You can't not do your job, that is neglect and I feel he will serve jail time regardless of his health.

[jimspear]

He is guilty of criminal negligence leading to the deaths of the residents. Negligent homicide should be charged also. Also charge the water clown. Who was in charge of the sirens and fire response?

[luckyone]

They stated they would have headed to the highest point but folks would have seen the flames or smelled the smoke. Right?

[Topself]

Damn he said we don’t sound the alarm because the ppl are dumb. The disrespect

[JoanBrown-je]

Did he ACTUALLY say people wouldn’t hear it?? What a pathetic excuse! My God man can you be more ignorant?

[stupadasol]

Health concerns . . . . . like fear for his life.

[federalreservebrown]

how can only one person have ability to sound the

[ianellison]

Give that reporter a raise for asking those hard questions. That’s absolutely what journalism should aspire to be and do. Bravo CBS news!

[mermaidofaloha]

And we sure can hear the sirens from indoors. We do every single month for testing. He just had stupidity flowing out of his mouth. I am so happy about his resignation “effective immediately”. I hope he frees up some housing on Maui by leaving the island, effective immediately. I am embarrassed by how the officials in our state acted at that press conference. As a retired teacher in Hawaii, that was equivalent to some of the behaviors in our high schools (referring specifically to the mayor of Maui). I am surprised at his age he still hasn’t outgrown such intimidating behavior, especially at a time of crisis such as this, in a public forum & as a role model for our youth. Just because he was frustrated with the media and does not know how to behave like a mature adult, really pitiful. The whole world sees this splashed in the media, CNN, everywhere and gets a first hand experience of what Hawaii residents deal with daily and who we have in office leading us. Lord help the people of Hawaii.🙏

[ilzitek]

What is wrong with these leaders? So numb and uncaring. How can they not hear sirens … they must have phones… can’t you send them a text to get out and search for a safe place?