News about Bob Marshall

Hawaiian Electric, which serves 95 percent of Hawaii residents, decided during the 2019 wildfires that it would do more to prevent its power lines from leaking sparks, but only spent $245,000 on wildfire-specific projects on the island between 2019 and 2022. At the same time, the power company was focusing on renewable energies, pledging to meet the target five years ahead of a government-imposed deadline in 2017. Hawaiian Electric is now under pressure after reports that it may have contributed to the Maui wildfires (right) that have killed at least 111 people, including the Hawaiian one. Footage (left) taken at the Maui Bird Conservation Center near Makawao seems to have a brilliant light in the woods that many believe was caused by a tree falling on a powerline.

A powerline downed during a storm may have sparked the first wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui, according to a video. The video, which was shot at the Maui Bird Conservation Center near Makawao, shows a brilliant flash (pictured) in the woods at the time ten sensors detected a major event in Hawaiian Electric's grid on August 7. Jennifer Pribble, a senior research coordinator at the center, posted the video of the flash on Instagram and said, 'I believe that is when a tree is falling on a power line.' According to Maui Police, the island's death toll reached 111, with only nine people identified. Although the Makawao fire had nothing to do with the inferno that destroyed Lahaina's historic town, it was the first of many reported on Maui on August 7.