Hawaii [US], August 14 : Following the deadliest US wildfire in Hawaii's Maui, a Hawaiian couple sued four power companies and accused them of ignoring weather warnings and not alerting as the fire killed at least 93 people, reported Fox News.
Monica and Rede Eder who sued the power companies owns a house in Lahaina which was decimated by the deadly wildfire.
Their suit is "on behalf of a class and subclasses of all persons similarly situated."
The suit targets Hawaiian Electric Industries, which is the parent company of Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO), Maui Electric Company (MECO), and Hawai'i Electric Light Company (HELCO).
The lawsuit accuses the power company of ignoring weather warnings and keeping their power lines energized despite the dangerous conditions.
Moreover, the plaintiffs claimed that the companies "inexcusably kept their power lines energized during forecasted high fire danger conditions."
However, as per the suit, the National Weather Service issued a High Wind Watch and Red Flag Warning and alerted that energized power lines could make a fire develop more rapidly, reported Fox News.
The suit further alleged that the companies, "caused loss of life, serious injuries, destruction of hundreds of homes and businesses, displacement of thousands of people, and damage to many of Hawaii’s historic and cultural sites."
"Scores of people burned to death," the suit added. "Other victims suffered severe burns, smoke inhalation and additional serious injuries."
Whereas, Hawaiian Electic spokesperson Jim Kelley said, "As has always been our policy, we don’t comment on pending litigation. Our immediate focus is on supporting emergency response efforts on Maui and restoring power for our customers and communities as quickly as possible. At this early stage, the cause of the fire has not been determined and we will work with the state and county as they conduct their review."
Making it the deadliest US wildfire in 100 years, the death toll from Hawaii's Maui wildfires increased to 93 on Saturday, reported Al Jazeera.
According to officials, the death toll might even increase as the search teams are searching through the ruins of Lahaina town on Maui island. The town was home to over 12,000 people and has been reduced to ruins.
Whereas, the lively hotels and restaurants turned into ashes.
Maui police chief John Pelletier said only a fraction of the disaster zone had been searched, and only two of the victims could be identified because they were burned badly. He added that cadaver dogs trained to detect bodies had covered only 3 percent of the search area.
The cost to rebuild Lahaina was estimated at $5.5bn, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with more than 2,200 structures damaged or destroyed and more than 2,100 acres (850 hectares) burned, reported Al Jazeera.
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