Hawaii Governor: 2023 Lahaina Wildfire Lawsuits Nearing $4 Billion Settlement

Hawaii’s Democrat governor said Wednesday that parties involved in lawsuits regarding the 2023 wildfires are nearing a settlement.

The lawsuits were brought against the state, Maui County, and utilities following the devastating wildfires that tore across Lahaina and left residents devastated in August of 2023, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Wednesday.

As the fires raged, Governor Josh Green said they were “likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii’s state history,” according to Breitbart News.

Video footage shows the fires ravaging the community as people tried to escape:

Per Wednesday’s AP report, Green explained the settlement of claims will come to just over $4 billion.

The outlet continued:

Green said he’s hoping to finalize the details in coming days, perhaps as soon as Aug. 6, which would be two days before the one-year anniversary of the fire that killed 102 people and wiped out historic Lahaina.

“If that could happen, it would be great. I humbly invite all the parties to finalize the agreement,” Green said in an interview at his office. “It appears that we are almost there, and we only have a very tiny holdout remaining.”

The AP article noted that over 600 lawsuits were filed regarding the loss of life and destruction the wildfires left behind.

The wildfires were fueled by invasive alien grassland species that grew on abandoned farms, Breitbart News reported August 11, 2023. The report also noted:

The grasses, which grow faster after rainy winters, create fuel for fires and are the biggest factor in turning Hawaii from a place where wildfires are uncommon to one in which they are increasingly considered a familiar risk, much as in mainland California.

…

As in California, however, where environmentalists and courts have thwarted efforts to manage forests by removing potential fuel for wildfires, poor management of vegetation on former farmland is a major factor in the recent emergence of devastating wildfires.

At the time, the article noted that the immediate cause of the fire was unknown, but wind gusts from Hurricane Dora played a role in spreading the blaze.

Christian Crook via Storyful

Meanwhile, Green told the AP that bringing $4 billion to Lahaina would help the area recover after the devastation it suffered.

During an interview in September with CBS News, Green spoke about the wildfires. “If other decisions were made, it is possible that we wouldn’t have had such loss,” he said.

Breitbart News noted that he did not want to say authorities were “asleep at the wheel” nor whether Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen should step down.