Maui sues cell carriers over wildfire warning alerts that were never received during service outages

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Hawaii News

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Had emergency responders known about widespread cellphone outages during the height of last summer's deadly Maui wildfires, they would have used other methods…

Alerts the county sent to cellphones warning people to immediately evacuate were never received, unbeknownst to the county, the lawsuit said.

Major cellular carriers were negligent in failing to properly inform Maui police of widespread service outages, county officials said in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in state court against Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile USA, Spectrum Mobile and AT&T.“We continue to stand with the Maui community as it heals from the tragic fires, but these claims are baseless,” T-Mobile said in a statement Thursday.

A flood of lawsuits has come out since the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the historic town of Lahaina andMaui County is a defendant in multiple lawsuits over its emergency response during the fires. The county is also suing the Hawaiian Electric Company, saying the utility negligently failed to shut off power despite exceptionally high winds and dry conditions.

In Maui's latest legal action, lawyers for the county say if the county is found liable for damages, then the cell carriers' “conduct substantially contributed to the damages” against the county.

 

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