Maui’s Emergency Management Agency chief said that officials did not activate the island’s emergency sirens as wildfires blazed toward Lahaina because they feared the signal would cause residents to run toward the fire.

Chief Herman Andaya spoke during a press conference Wednesday and defended his decision not to use Maui’s emergency sirens, and instead send out alerts through text messages, radio, and TV. Andaya said the emergency sirens are usually used for tsunami warnings, which tell Hawaiians to seek higher ground, but that would’ve been toward the fire. 

“Had we sounded the siren that night, we’re afraid that people would have gotten mauka [toward the mountains] and if that was the case, then they would have gone into the fire,” the emergency chief said, according to The New York Post. 

“I should also note that there are no sirens mauka, or on the mountainside, where the fire was spreading down,” Andaya added. “So even if we sounded the siren, we would not have saved those people out there on the mountainside.”

During the press conference, a reporter cited mourning survivors who say that their family members could’ve survived if the emergency sirens had alerted them to the fast-moving fire. Hawaii Governor Josh Green, who was also at the press conference, defended Andaya after the reporter’s questions and said he also would’ve expected a tsunami if he heard the sirens. 

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said last week that her office will conduct a “comprehensive review” of the decisions made by officials before, during, and after the wildfires.

The death toll from the wildfires that raged last week has now hit 111 and includes children, but only 38% of the burn area has been searched and over 1,000 people are likely still missing, according to the governor. Video footage shows that some of the many fires that burned on the island likely started from downed power lines.  

Footage captured by a security camera at the Maui Bird Conservation Center last Monday showed the moment a power line sparked a blaze in the woods. The conservation center where the footage was taken from is in the small rural town of Makawao, just over 30 miles from where a massive fire turned much of the historic city of Lahaina to ash. 

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The Makawao fire was the first of multiple fires reported on the island last week. Prior to the fires, Maui faced strong winds from a hurricane hundreds of miles offshore. While the Makawao blaze didn’t reach Lahaina, it was one of the many fires sparked on the island last Monday and Tuesday that eventually reached the town of 13,000.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) will focus their resources on bringing in more non-white visitors to their state parks.

MDNR issued a renewed commitment to diversity following their latest quinquennial survey: the 2022 State Park Visitor Study, released Tuesday. In a press release, MDNR Parks and Trails Director Ann Pierce said the state agency needed to do more for inclusivity, in reference to their data that only 11 percent more visitors weren’t white.

“The visitor study shows that Minnesota DNR is making progress toward our goal of inclusivity, though there’s still more work to do,” said Pierce. “We will continue our efforts to expand access to public lands for traditionally underserved communities and to welcome new visitors to outdoor recreation in state parks.”

The study reported an increase of non-white visitors from five percent in 2017 to 11 percent last year. The survey may or may not reflect an accurate demographic of state park visitors, since it relies on voluntary participants; MDNR pulled their data from 2,000 interviews last summer.

The study divided participants into two groups: white and BIPOC (short for Black, Indigenous, or People of Color). Biracial and multiracial individuals were classified as BIPOC, along with any participants who reported to be American Indian, Alaska Native, Asian or Asian American, Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Middle Eastern, North African, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander.

According to the study, state park visitors were more likely to be white, high income, and more highly educated than the rest of the Minnesota population. The study also reported that the visitors they interviewed had expressed a desire to “decolonize signage” and input more Indigenous history and voices in park programming, as well as expressed concerns over potentially experiencing microaggressions and the lack of diversity during their visit.

The results of this latest study echo prior MDNR recommendations to increase the focus of resources on diversity.

In April 2020, the MDNR convened the Minnesota Outdoor Recreation Task Force. In March 2021, the task force issued final recommendations that MDNR make diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) a greater focus. The task force claimed that diversity was an economic asset since more the state’s BIPOC and “gender identity” populations were growing, and claimed that the state was losing $16 billion GDP annually due to racial disparities, citing a 2014 report from PolicyLink and the University of Southern California (USC) Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE).

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PolicyLink is a left-leaning California-based nonprofit that pulls in tens of millions annually ($83.4 million per their latest tax filing) and advocates for progressive causes, such as expanding the welfare state and government-controlled health care.

In the weeks leading up to the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death, MDNR launched a social media campaign encouraging DEI on public lands and waters. MDNR partnered with Share the Mic MN, one of the many racial justice activist campaigns that launched following Floyd’s death.

Share the Mic MN had black and brown women “share the mic,” i.e. take over the social media accounts of white “allies.” The Edina Community Foundation manages the campaign and serves as a partner, along with the U.S. Bank Foundation, Minneapolis Foundation, and Allianz.

Shout out to Jasmine at @sharethemicmn — excited to partner with you for #MyMNOutdoorAdventure! Tell YOUR story of diversity outdoors at https://t.co/pHqSRBcO6Q pic.twitter.com/wGxWRjm8py

— Minnesota DNR (@mndnr) May 14, 2021

MDNR also co-manages a collegiate career program, Increasing Diversity in Environmental Careers, that excludes white males. Only individuals who identify as women, BIPOC, and/or disabled are eligible. MNDR partners with the Conservation Corps Minnesota and Iowa, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources to manage the program. 

In an interview earlier this week, the principal planner for MDNR Parks and Trails, Gratia Joice, told Minnesota Public Radio that she and other state workers were encouraged by more non-white visitors frequenting their parks.

“This is something we were really excited to see,” said Joice. “The survey shows increasing diversity among state park visitors, specifically visitors of color, from five percent in 2017 to 11 percent in 2022.”

However, Joice also shared that MDNR is attempting to achieve parity between the population demographics and state park visitor demographics.

The Census Bureau estimates Minnesota’s white population (not Hispanic or Latino) at around 77.6 percent, black or African American at 7.6 percent, American Indian and Alaska Native at 1.4 percent, Asian at 5.5 percent, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander at .1 percent, biracial or multiracial at 2.8 percent, Hispanic or Latino at six percent.

Per MDNR’s classification of BIPOC, the benchmark for racial parity would be at or above 23.4 percent.

“While it is an improvement, there’s still work to be done,” said Joice.