(NewsNation) — Hawaiian Electric Co. is facing multiple lawsuits following the Maui wildfires. At least one of the suits alleges that the electric company contributed to the cause of the devastation.
“Hawaii Electric’s equipment started this fire, and it was entirely preventable,” Watts Guerra partner Mikal Watts told the San Antonio Express-News.
Watts told NBC News that the company’s own documents showed “they knew how to prevent it.”
In a funding request last year from the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, Hawaii Electric reportedly said it needed more money to make sure their facilities were not going to be “the origin or a contributing source of ignition for a wildfire.”
Famed trial attorney Jay Edelson says similar cases have been tried before and punitive damages have been awarded.
“I think there has to be some accountability,” Edelson told “On Balance” host Leland Vittert, later adding: “The utility company is going to pay.”
Edelson said Hawaiian Electric made a decision for decades to not improve their infrastructure.
“They’ve seen this play out in wildfire after wildfire. This is the fourth large wildfire case we’ve been involved in. It is ridiculous,” Edelson said.
For him, Edelson said, this isn’t about “suing deep pockets.” It’s about “trying to change something.”
“We are going to be here again in a year talking about yet another utility company that dropped the ball unless we start actually focusing on why these utility companies aren’t willing to do what they need to do and protect their citizens,” he said.
On the day of the Maui wildfire, Hawaiian Electric reportedly had no plan in place for turning off the island’s grid during high winds. At a news conference last week, Hawaiian Electric CEO Shelee Kimura said shutting off power during periods of high winds is “controversial” and “not universally accepted.”
The cause of the Maui wildfires has not officially been determined. Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced that she has opened a “comprehensive review of critical decision-making and standing policies leading up to, during and after the wildfires.”
The Maui wildfire that has taken at least 114 lives is the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century.