Hawaiian Electric disputes barrage of criticism, accusations
WAILUKU >> Hawaiian Electric Co. is pushing back on allegations that it has compromised evidence, and said characterizations that it has admitted to starting the deadly Lahaina fire are “inaccurate and misleading.”
Facing a flurry of civil lawsuits and accusations of wrongdoing from fire victims and Maui County, the 131-year-old utility shot back at national media reports that its workers removed evidence before a U.S. Department of Justice fire investigation team arrived to begin a probe into the cause and origin of the Lahaina fire.
And in a statement Tuesday to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, the company further rebutted assertions by an attorney for the county, Richard Fried Jr., who said Hawaiian Electric officials have admitted to sparking the blaze that killed at least 115 people, destroyed most of Lahaina town, and displaced over 4,300 people.
