Maui Fire Department, ATF officials clarify timeline and process for Lahaina wildfire cause and origin report

Officials with the Maui Fire Department and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded today to media inquiries about the timeline and process for releasing information on the cause and origin of the Aug. 8, 2023 Lahaina wildfire.

“County of Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety (MFD) met with ATF the last week of June to review details of the ATF report on cause and origin, which is more than 400 pages,” Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura said in a statement released today. “An article published June 28 alleged that the ATF investigation was completed and that MFD was holding the report for an unknown amount of time.”

Chief Ventura said he would like to clarify that the statement is inaccurate, and that ATF is still in the process of completing its report. “Once ATF formats its report, the finalized report will be sent to MFD and we will add it as an appendix to the MFD cause and origin report. 

“While our department is tasked with investigating every fire, we utilize ATF to assist with more complex, scientific fire analysis,” Ventura added. “ATF has not given a timeline for its finalized report. However, we recognize the importance of sharing this information with the public, and plan to release our cause and origin report as soon as we receive and integrate ATF’s findings.”

ATF spokesman Jason Chudy today said his recent comments in a June 28 Civil Beat article were comprised with information that he had at that time. “After a weeklong review with the County of Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety, there was additional formatting required by ATF to complete our report. ATF is diligently working to finalize our report, and we appreciate everyone’s patience as we finish this comprehensive, significant and impartial investigation,” said Chudy.