The cause of the August 2023 wildfire that destroyed Lahaina, Maui and killed at least 101 residents is still unknown at this writing. What was immediately obvious was the absence of any effective alert to the public. Authorities failed to activate the so-called "tsunami warning" siren system, even though it could have at least alerted residents to their peril. Many survivors angrily complained they received no warning whatsoever.
Emergency communications planners must stay abreast of best practices in their field, just like doctors, scientists, professionals, and experts in all disciplines. Had officials within the Maui Emergency Management Agency implemented the lessons learned after California's major wildfires in the past decade, they would have been prepared to meaningfully respond to the wildfire's threat to Lahaina,
CHORE and a companion website -- WildfireCrisis.com (loads slowly at the Internet's Wayback Machine archive) -- have advocated major reforms in emergency communications that incorporate a medium hiding in plain sight: AM Radio. Unlike cell phone networks that fires destroy and digital programs that require registration, radio stations rarely fail in a wildfire. No fire can outrun radio signals.
Here is CHORE's proposed model to vastly improve emergency outreach to the public. It was drafted in 2018 following several emergency management failures to adequately inform citizens about the fires that were closing in on them.
Add radio to the communications plan
Develop plans that specifically designate AM radio broadcast stations as critical communications links during wildfires. This can only work if agencies aggressively publicize the stations (see below).
But don't throw out the tech-reliant channels
Every new commo thing that comes along deserves a seat at the emergency alert table — social media, police cars equipped with high-low sirens (new in California), and more. Use them, but don’t fall in love with them. Radio broadcasts are more accessible and faster than every other method to send alerts.
Bring back what worked!
You probably have to be at least 30-40 years old to recall the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), which was phased out in the 1990s. The national system designated at least one emergency broadcast station in each major community. Those stations had emergency electricity generators to stay on the air during power outages. Focus on reenergizing the link between emergency responders and broadcasters.
Publicize, Publicize, Publicize
Citizens need to know where to turn during emergencies to find information that will keep them alive. The EBS network worked because of relentless publicity of and by the designated emergency broadcast stations during the quiet times between emergencies. Officials would routinely remind the public about the station’s link to critical information. The EBS goal was to eliminate confusion and doubt about where citizens can find life-saving information as a crisis emerged.
A way to make this proposed system work during a crisis
Once civilians are in grave danger, as was the case in California's Redding, Wine Country, and Paradise fires, the system of emergency alerts would be activated, but unlike those incidents, AM radio would be an official part of the mix. Public information officers and other official spokespersons (battalion chiefs, incident commanders, etc.) would include the designated station in their outreach. A public information officer (PIO) would be sent to the radio station to be a conduit for evacuation orders from the field straight to the public over the radio. If not actually positioned at the station, PIOs and others would push this critical information to the public over the designated station(s). There’s not a station owner or general manager alive who’d refuse the opportunity of being THE go-to station for news and information critical to the community.
After Lahaina's unimaginable tragedy, agencies are obligated to review their crisis communications plans and ensure they benefit from the well-documented lessons learned in other tragedies.
Volunteerism on all levels can help repair a broken emergency system. Private organizations and companies with communications expertise (e.g., advertising agencies and public relations firms) have contributions to make.
All of this must happen in Hawaii. There can be no more excuses, no more deaths due to communications mistakes.
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