Amended Complaint Seeks to Add Telecom Companies, Landowners to Maui Wildfire Lawsuit

Lawyers for Lahaina residents and business owners are intensifying their legal battle by alleging that cable TV and telephone companies played a role in last month’s devastating fires on Maui.

According to the plaintiff’s legal representatives, the cables from these telecom providers were attached in a manner that exerted excessive tension on the utility poles. This, they claim, resulted in the poles leaning and breaking during the fierce winds on August 8, which ultimately led to the extensive destruction in Lahaina, including the tragic loss of at least 115 lives.

According to the AP, Attorney Graham LippSmith, of LippSmith LLP, urged the court to expand the scope of the original proposed class action lawsuit by including multiple telecommunications companies, as well as public and private landowners as defendants.

MaryBeth LippSmith, co-founder of the law firm, emphasized the need to bring all potentially responsible parties to justice. Addressing concerns that the firm’s actions may be related to Hawaiian Electric potentially declaring bankruptcy, she stressed that their primary goal is to identify and rectify multiple failures to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

The lawsuit seeks damages and injunctive relief, including a court order compelling the defendants to address fire risk.

The proposed amended complaint still holds power utilities accountable for the wildfires. It accuses them of failing to preemptively shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions, neglecting to replace old wooden poles that were too weak to withstand 105 mph winds, briefly recharging the lines in parts of Lahaina on August 8, and obstructing evacuation routes while servicing downed lines.

The complaint also assigns responsibility to other parties, alleging that when power poles fell, they ignited highly flammable vegetation that had not been adequately maintained by private and state landowners, thereby contributing to the rapid spread of the fire.

Hawaiian Electric recently acknowledged that its power lines were responsible for starting a fire on the morning of August 8. However, it placed blame on county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and then leaving the scene, which subsequently led to a second, even deadlier wildfire breaking out nearby.

John Fiske, an attorney from a California law firm representing Maui county, has asserted that the ultimate responsibility lies with Hawaiian Electric to ensure the proper maintenance of its equipment and the de-energization of lines that could potentially be downed.