MIDLIFE [CLIMATE FARCE]-19, Tuesday, August 15, 2023 - That Damn Evidence That Human Greed and Incompetence [Likely] Caused the Maui Fires.
"Now the footage has emerged as key evidence pointing to fallen utility lines as the possible cause. Hawaiian Electric Co. faces criticism for not shutting off the power amid high wind warnings and keeping it on even as dozens of poles began to topple."
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"A class-action lawsuit has already been filed seeking to hold the company responsible for the deaths of at least 101 people. The suit cites the utility’s own documents showing it was aware that preemptive power shutoffs such as those used in California were an effective strategy to prevent wildfires but never adopted them.
"'Nobody likes to turn the power off — it’s inconvenient — but any utility that has significant wildfire risk, especially wind-driven wildfire risk, needs to do it and needs to have a plan in place,' said Michael Wara, a wildfire expert who is director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at Stanford University. 'In this case, the utility did not.'
"'It may turn out that there are other causes of this fire, and the utility lines are not the main cause,' Wara said.
"'But if they are, boy, this didn’t need to happen'" (1.).
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"Robert Marshall, CEO of Whisker Labs, a company that collects and analyzes electrical grid data, said sensors installed throughout Maui to detect sparking power lines showed a dangerously high number of such live wire incidents that night and into the following morning. The sensors, 70 in all, record breaks in electric transmission after trees fall on power lines or other accidents, and they showed dozens of such faults in areas where fires likely broke out and around the time the blazes probably started.
"The faults, which Marshall likened to a series of circuit breakers tripping at the same time, were remarkable for the amount of power lost, a third of the usual 120 volts coursing through lines. Marshall said he couldn’t say whether any of the sparks resulted in a fire, only noting that there were many opportunities for it to happen.
"'A substantial amount of energy was discharged,' said Marshall, pointing to a graph on his computer screen with several lines plunging at the same time. 'Any one of these faults could have caused a wildfire, any could have been an ignition source'" (1.).
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Note to Self: Maybe class-action proceeds - likely in the billions - will be enough for residents to fend off predatory real estate developers.
Now that's karma.
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That damn evidence that human greed and incompetence [likely] caused the Maui fires.
- Matfucius
1.) https://www.yahoo.com/news/videos-put-scrutiny-downed-power-190144697.html