In early August, a total of four major wildfires occurred on the island of Maui, Hawaii. According to the National Centers for Environmental Information, there were a total of 17,000 acres burned, 97 deaths, and has cost over six billion dollars in repairs and other major expenses.

One of the reported causes was a large spread of non-native vegetation paired with a hotter and drier environment due to climate change and high winds carrying fires across numerous acres. Although these reasons are realistic, other researchers have speculated that this may not have been just any other tragic natural disaster.

Al Jazeera News published an article that stated, “the Hawaiian Electric utility company has said that it shut off power lines in west Maui more than six hours before a series of wildfires began, back against claims that company negligence helped create the conditions that led to the widespread destruction.”

County officials have since filed a lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric Company accusing them of negligence. This utility company then pushed back claiming that county authorities failed to contain the fires which killed 97 people.

Moreover, there are reports that Hawaiian Electric, “failed to de-energize its electrical equipment during the hurricane-force winds, sparking the fires” according to the lawsuit. Litigation is pending.

Hawaiian Electric has admitted that they are to blame for “downed electric poles [that] started the initial blaze, but [they refute] that [they are] responsible for the full fire,” according to Forbes.

Additionally, the Washington Post reported that the utility company had removed damaged power poles and other equipment from Lahaina around August 12, potentially compromising evidence that’s part of an ongoing investigation.

While Hawaiian Electric Company is the focus of litigation from Lahaina county, the government is to blame, according to a lawsuit brought by Plaintiff Harold Wells who filed a lawsuit alleging that local officials failed to sound alarms during the fire. The lack of action resulted in the death of his daughter, Rebecca Rans, he claims in his lawsuit.

As of Sept. 15, residents are now allowed to visit the remains of their homes and see some reopened neighborhoods.