Dec 17, 2024 FRONTLINE
FRONTLINE investigates the causes of the deadly August 2023 wildfire in Maui, the chaotic response, and the missed warnings.

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In August 2023, the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century reduced much of the Hawaiian town of Lahaina to ashes, killing more than 100 people and displacing thousands. Coming in the wake of a state investigation that found a broad cascade of failures, “Maui’s Deadly Firestorm” investigates critical missteps that day — and in the years prior, as the county and state were repeatedly advised to invest more money in prevention and preparedness, and as experts and residents raised concerns.

The documentary draws on harrowing footage filmed by those in the path of the inferno and firsthand accounts from survivors, victims’ families and friends, first responders, and local and state authorities. Through these accounts as well as a detailed analysis of over a thousand 911 calls and public records across multiple government agencies, it provides a wrenching, moment-by-moment reconstruction of the fire and its aftermath.

The film also examines how changes to the climate and landscape have made Maui increasingly vulnerable to fires and raises difficult questions about what led to the fire’s heavy toll.

“Maui’s Deadly Firestorm” is a FRONTLINE production with Mandarin Duck Films LLC. The writer, producer and director is Xinyan Yu. The producer is Christina Avalos. The senior producer is Frank Koughan. The editor-in-chief and executive producer of FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.