The Hawaiʻi Attorney General’s office released its final report Tuesday on the August 2023 Maui wildfires, making 140 safety recommendations for state and county agencies, utility companies and landowners.

The 62-page report produced by the Fire Safety Research Institute, which was contracted to do the in-depth analysis, prioritizes what steps should be taken sooner rather than later, including hiring a state fire marshal, managing vegetation and standardizing evacuation plans for high wildfire risk areas.

The guidance is directed at all four counties in Hawaiʻi, not just Maui, with an emphasis on applying lessons learned from the Lahaina blaze that destroyed more than 2,000 buildings and killed 102 people.

“As mentioned in the Phase Two report, there was no single factor directly responsible for the tragic outcome. The conditions that led to these fires were in the making for decades,” said Steve Kerber, vice president and executive director of the fire research institute, in a news release. “The state, counties and the community now have the blueprint for the critical first steps necessary to establish a solid foundation for improving fire safety across Hawaiʻi.”

The institute’s next focus under the current state contract is working with the Maui Fire and Public Safety Department to develop a community risk assessment, community risk reduction plan and a standards of cover resource analysis. It has recommended Kauaʻi, Honolulu and Hawaiʻi counties do the same to address wildfire risks statewide.

Read the full report below.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.