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Maui residents who disobeyed barricades survived fires

apnews.com

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Re: Maui residents who disobeyed barricades survived fires

#62

Everyone's focused on the barricades (orange cones from the sound of it) but this caught my eye at the end: > “The gridlock would have left us there when the firestorm came,” Cuevas-Reyes, 38, told the AP. “I would have had to tell my children to jump into the ocean as well and be boiled alive by the flames or we would have just died from smoke inhalation and roasted in the car.” That kind of gridlock is why we have…

All it takes is one fallen power line or tree to turn that stroad into a giant parking lot of death. Cutting back brush and undergrounding power lines is much more cost-effective than building stroads up into the hillsides.

The AP article cited notes that the "barricades" were in many cases downed live power and telephone lines:

"The utility says more than 30 power poles are down in West Maui, including along the Honoapiilani Highway at the south end of Lahaina." (That Highway aka Highway 30) was the main southern route out of town.)

"A telephone pole falls behind their car, causing an accident and blocking a side street."

Re: Maui residents who disobeyed barricades survived fires

#63
post #61

> More than 100 deaths have been confirmed, and roughly 1,000 people remain unaccounted for. It's been two weeks now. Does this mean that roughly 1,000 people died?

Yes, unfortunately. It’s not like these people were hiking in the wilderness and might be found alive. They’re buried in the ashes of the fire.

Re: Maui residents who disobeyed barricades survived fires

#64
post #40
post #7

Tragic events like this can be a reminder that the only person responsible for your safety is You. You Cannot rely on "officials" or rules to care more about you than you do. Trust your gut, maintain awareness. Do not be lulled into complacency by safety theatre.

> Trust your gut, maintain awareness. This advice is pretty bad, and reeks of survivorship bias. This "truthiness" approach to safety purposely ignores the countless cases of morons getting themselves killed by intentionally ignoring directions from emergency services.

It also leads to disorganization. Imagine everyone cutting around each other and end up blocking the road. Instead of keeping order everyone slowly exiting, a few cutting ahead could cost many others dearly.

Re: Maui residents who disobeyed barricades survived fires

#66
post #7

Tragic events like this can be a reminder that the only person responsible for your safety is You. You Cannot rely on "officials" or rules to care more about you than you do. Trust your gut, maintain awareness. Do not be lulled into complacency by safety theatre.

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Re: Maui residents who disobeyed barricades survived fires

#67
post #64
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Trust your gut, maintain awareness. This advice is pretty bad, and reeks of survivorship bias. This "truthiness" approach to safety purposely ignores the countless cases of morons getting themselves killed by intentionally ignoring directions from emergency services.

It also leads to disorganization. Imagine everyone cutting around each other and end up blocking the road. Instead of keeping order everyone slowly exiting, a few cutting ahead could cost many others dearly.

Indeed, there's a balance. If you are in an orderly line to die like a lemming running off a cliff, you should second guess your choices.

Re: Maui residents who disobeyed barricades survived fires

#70
post #63
post #61

> More than 100 deaths have been confirmed, and roughly 1,000 people remain unaccounted for. It's been two weeks now. Does this mean that roughly 1,000 people died?

Yes, unfortunately. It’s not like these people were hiking in the wilderness and might be found alive. They’re buried in the ashes of the fire.

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