Maui wildfire emergency management reform: Three years after Lahaina — An independent assessment of framework reform progress and remaining gaps

This research report examines whether Hawaiʻi’s county emergency management frameworks have been substantively reformed since the 8 August 2023 Lahaina wildfire, or whether federal recovery investment has been directed primarily towards reconstruction while framework failures remain unaddressed. The analysis draws on publicly available Hawaiʻi county emergency management plan documentation, congressional testimony, Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency (HIEMA) post-incident reports and ISPI’s Island Emergency Management Framework. It assesses documented framework failures against available post-incident reform documentation.

The report identifies four failures: mass notification architecture, evacuation route capacity, mutual aid timelines and Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) information architecture. It finds that post-Lahaina reform has focused on equipment procurement, staffing additions and wildfire mitigation, which do not address these framework design failures. Recommendations include island-specific framework reviews for all Hawaiʻi counties, island-specific compliance standards from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and documented response-time assessments by Maui County. The report concludes that the framework reform required to prevent similar outcomes has not yet been completed.