The lawsuit alleges that major cellular carriers were negligent in failing to properly inform Maui police of widespread service outages during last summer’s deadly wildfires. Alerts sent to cellphones warning residents to evacuate were never received due to the outages, which included a total failure of all 21 cell towers serving West Maui, including in Lahaina. This failure to alert the public has raised questions about the effectiveness of Maui’s emergency warning system, despite the state possessing an elaborate system for various disasters such as wars, volcanoes, hurricanes, and wildfires.
Maui County is also facing multiple lawsuits over its emergency response during the wildfires, with the county now suing major cellular carriers as well as the Hawaiian Electric Company for their alleged negligence. The lawsuit claims that if the county is found liable for damages, the conduct of the cell carriers substantially contributed to the damages against the county. The lawsuit highlights the county’s efforts to warn residents of the danger through direct text messaging to individual cell phones, as well as other alerts and warnings, during the height of the wildfires while emergency responders were battling fires and providing aid and evacuations.
The legal action against Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, Spectrum Mobile, and AT&T accuses the carriers of not accurately reporting the extent and reach of the cell service outages during the wildfires, as required by federal law. The county claims that had the carriers accurately reported the widespread failure of dozens of cell sites across the island, they would have utilized different methods in their disaster and warning response. The carriers have refuted the claims, stating that they broadcasted wireless emergency alerts to customers, sent required outage notifications, and contacted state and local emergency agencies and services promptly.
The lawsuit represents a flood of legal actions that have emerged since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century devastated the historic town of Lahaina and claimed the lives of 101 people. The response to the wildfires, including the failure to activate sirens that could have warned the entire population of the approaching flames, has raised concerns about the preparedness and effectiveness of emergency response in the face of natural disasters. The legal battle between Maui County and major cellular carriers highlights the challenges and complexities of disaster warning systems in an increasingly interconnected world where communication disruptions can have life-threatening consequences.
