LOS ANGELES, USA: The embattled chief of Maui’s emergency management agency, who had come under severe criticism for sirens not being sounded as a wildfire raged through the Hawaiian town of Lahaina, resigned on Thursday.
Maui County said in a statement that Mayor Richard Bissen has accepted the resignation of Maui Emergency Management Agency’s Administrator Herman Andaya.
Andaya submitted his resignation while citing health issues, the statement added.
Emergency chief does not regret
Andaya on Wednesday told a press briefing that he did not regret the decision to not activate an island-wide network of 121-decibel sirens as the deadly wildfire raged in Lahaina and affected its more-than twelve thousand residents, AFP reported.
That decision, along with other perceived wrong measure before, during and after the calamity, which left nearly 111 people dead, has sparked anger among survivors, who say more lives could have been saved.
Bissen said that due to the gravity of the crisis the county was facing, his team and he will be placing someone in this important position as soon as possible and he was looking forward to making that announcement at earliest.
