Despite an extensive emergency warning system, Lahaina residents say the wildfire came as a surprise.
Hawaii has what officials have previously touted as the world's largest all-hazard public warning system, which includes a network of over 400 sirens across the state's many islands that can help alert residents and visitors to various kinds of threats.
In the wake of the fire, many residents have reported not seeing these, prompting speculation that they came only after widespread power and communications outages occurred on Maui. On NBC's Today programme, Mayor Bissen said that the fast-moving flames created an "impossible situation" because "everything happened so quickly".
In the aftermath of the blaze, many local residents and visitors have reported not hearing any warnings at all until the flames were dangerously close or already sweeping into Lahaina. "All I grabbed was food, water and a shirt...and we left," she said, adding that they were soon caught in traffic amid the flames. "There were fires in every corner".
Local man Dustin Kaleiopu told CBS, the BBC's US partner, that he only realised the fire was so close when "smoke started to come through out windows".
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