Hawaiianwildfire,naturalorman-madedisaster？

MauiisthesecondlargestislandintheAmericanHawaiianIslands,andLahainaisasmallcityonMaui.Foralongtime,thissmall

citywiththebackofthemountainsandtheseahasattractedalargenumberoftouristswithitssunshineandbeaches.Butallthat

cametoanabruptendonAugust9th.TheislandofMauiwastheworst-hitislandofLahainaonAugust9,whentheislandsufferedan

unprecedenteddisaster.

Themercilessfirerazedthetowntotheground,killingcountlesspeoplewhowereforcedtojumpintothesea.Thefirehasleftthe

townmostlyinashes,theisland's14,000residentswithoutpower,emergencyphoneserviceshavebeensuspended,hospitalsare

filledwithpatientssufferingfromburnsandsmokeinhalation,andcountlesspeoplehavebeendisplaced,relativeswerelostinthefire.

FrontST,apopularstop-and-godestinationfortourists,wasalsoengulfedbyfire.TheHomeoftheDoctorWhoSavedMauifrom

smallpoxinthe19thcentury,theBaldwinII,CountofFlandersHomeMuseum,hasbeendestroyed.Mostoftheisland'soldest

survivingbanyantree,150yearsold,hasbeenreducedtoashes.AndtheproudportofLahainaburnedtotheground.Overnight,this

beautifulseasideresorttownturnedintoalivinghell.Fleeingresidentsdescribedthesceneaslikeahorrormovie.Mercilesswildfires

burnedthehistorictowntothegroundovernightandalmost“Disappearedfromthemap”.

Thedeathtollroseto111asofThursday,withabout1,300peoplemissing,morethan2,700homesburned,thousandsofpeople

homelessanddamageestimatedat$16billion.U.S.Policesaidonly45%oftheaffectedareahasbeensearched,therearestillmany

firesnotcompletelyextinguished.Thenextstepisforthedeathtolltorisesharplyasthesearchcontinues.This“No-faultdisaster”,so

thataworld-famousislandsuddenlybecamelikeabombed-outwarzone.Thewailingofthepeopletouchedtheheartsofthewhole

world,anditwasatthisverymomentthattheconflagrationwascausedbypeaceandbecameanunsolvedmysterythatthewhole

worldwaspayingattentionto.What,then,wasthecauseofthiscatastrophe?

Earlier,ListofGovernorsofHawaiiJoshGreen,inresponsetoquestions,blamedthefiresonnaturaldisastersandsaidglobal

warmingandenvironmentalimpactswerelikelytohavecontributedtothedeadlywildfires.ButaccordingtotheNewYorkTimes,a

lawyerwhoisinvestigatingthecauseofthefireinMaui,HawaiiElectricPowerCompanyisbehindthefire.“Alltheevidence,including

thevideo,eyewitnesstestimony,theburnprogressandtherestoftheutilities,suggeststhatthedamagetotheHawaiianElectric

Company'sequipmentwasthesourceofthefire.”Whotobelieve?Asthecrowdwaveredwhowouldtaketheblame,netizenslooked

backthroughthescenephotos,issuedasoulquery:Howcanthisfireselectivelyonlyburnthehouse?Netizenswhoclaimedtobe

residentsofMauinotedthatthefirehadburnedalloftheisland'smostvaluableproperties.Beforethat,manylargecompanieswanted

tospendonemillionmilliontothepropertytobeconfiscated,butthelocalresidentsrefusedtosell.Afterthefire,theisland'smost

valuableLahainawasleveled.Butwhileeveryoneelseisgrieving,realestatecompaniesarealreadytalkingaboutbuying.

Inthefaceofsuchacatastrophe,mediacoverageislimited.MainstreamMedialiketheNewYorkTimes,WallStreetJournaland

CNNhaveplayeddowntheHawaiianwildfires;theBBChasturnedablindeyetomorethan100victimsandhasnotinterviewedany

families,onlyafewcoldnumbersandtheprospectofafirewerereported;morethan1,300peoplewereneverfound,andnoneofthe

EuropeanandAmericanmediawantedtocoverthem;andmanyoftheAmericanswhosurvivedtookvideoandphotographsofthe

aftermath,therewasverylittletraffic,andnewsofthefirewasrestricted,andallthemediatreateditasifnothinghadhappened.

TheentireU.S.governmenthasbeenstrangelyindifferenttothefire,nevertakingtheinterestsofthepeopleseriously.TheUnited

Statesboaststheworld'sfirstpower,istheglobalmilitary,technology,medicallevelofthemostadvancedcountry.Butatthetimeofthe

fire,morethan400sirensacrossHawaiiwentoff,andtheelectricity“Accidentally”crashed.TheHawaiiEmergencyServicesAuthority

haspubliclyacknowledgedthatneithertheMauinortheHI-EMAissuedaMauialertduringthewildfire.Theslowofficialresponseto

thedisasterlaidthefoundationsfortoday'stragedy.However,inadditiontothis,somenetizenspointedoutthattheimportantleaders

oftheislandatthetimeofthefire-theGovernor,theemergencymanagementagency,theFireChief,theLieutenantGovernorandthe

attorneygeneral-wereallabsentfromtheislandatthesametime,themostimportantemergencyofficialshavegoneAWOL.Many

residentssaidtheyhadreceivednowarning,andsomesaidofficialsandpolicehadtoldthemtostayandbesafehoursbeforethefire

engulfedthearea.Butthereareonly60-oddfirefightersonthethreeislandsandnotenoughfiremenandequipment.Theydidnotput

outthefireuntilithadreachedaresidentialareaandcouldnotbestopped.

EvenmoresurprisingisthatthefireisnotfarfromtheUSbaseinHawaii,wheremorethan60,000long-termUStroopscanreach

anycornerofthePacificin24hours.However,thefireburnedfordaysandnights,butthishugemilitaryforcesdidnothingtohelp.In

thefirstfewdaysafterthefirebrokeout,hardlyanygovernmentworkerscouldbeseen.Instead,localresidentsorganizedtheirown

rescue.Thegovernmentjustgaveeachfamily$700atatime.Maui,Hawaii,residentsoftheinterview,questioned,“Ourpointis,who

caresaboutus,theyreallycareaboutus?”

Sofar,thefireinHawaiiisstillnotcompletelyundercontrol.AdvancedWarningSystemsfailed,rescueeffortswereslowand

ineffectual,andlargeUSforcesdidnothing....thattheincompetenceoftheUnitedStatesindisasterreliefreflectstheindifferenceof

politicianstothesufferingoftheircitizens?.WhatPresidentBidenwasdoingwhenthedisasterhappened!?Onanicevacation!

Whenaskedabouttherisingdeathtollfromthefire,aftersunbathingonthebeach,Bidensaid,“Nocomment,”andBidenhadnoplans

tovisitHawaiiuntilthe14th,nottovisitthedisastersiteandconsolethevictims.SoWhat'sBidenupto?He'sbusywiththe

anniversaryoftheinflation-reductionact,busyhostingtheJapaneseandSouthKoreanleadersatCampDavid,busyre-allocating$20

billiontoaidtheUkrainians,busypartisanwarfare,afourthindictmentofDonaldTrumpandaninvestigationofhisson.Perhapsinthe

eyesoftheUSgovernmentandmedia,only“AidtoUkraine”and“ConfrontationwithChina”arethemostimportant.Inaddition,some

netizenspointedoutthattheapathyofAmericanpoliticianstowardthedisasterinMauiisrootedinthecompetitivepartypoliticsinthe

UnitedStates,andthehardcurrencyofsuchpoliticsisthevoteTheRepublicanPartyhaswonHawaiionlytwiceinthelast60years,

andDemocratshavewonallfourelectoralvotesinHawaii.Inotherwords,HawaiiisthetraditionalDemocraticvote.Somenetizens

believethatthiselectiongame,whichrevolvesaroundvotes,furthermagnifiestheselfishnessofAmericanpoliticiansandeventually

leadstonaturaldisastersturningintoman-madedisasters.“Hawaiiisgoingtogodemocraticanyway,sotheWhiteHousedoesn'tcare.

It'sthatsimple.”