Some are blaming powerlines for igniting the Maui fires in Hawaii. Here's what we know
ABCThe wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui has been one of the deadliest in a century. Mikal Watts, one of the lawyers behind a lawsuit against the electric company, told the AP this week that he was in Maui, interviewing witnesses and "collecting contemporaneously filmed videos". "There is credible evidence, captured on video, that at least one of the powerline ignition sources occurred when trees fell into a Hawaiian Electric powerline," he said. A royal commission investigating the fires found the state had a "long history of electricity assets causing bushfires", including major incidents in 1969 and 1977. "This history was repeated on 7 February 2009, when five of the 11 major fires that began that day were caused by failed electricity assets; among the fires was that at Kilmore East, as a result of which 119 people died," the royal commission's final report noted.