as the fire began to swallow homes in its ravenous path, Maui County emergency officials declined to use an extensive network of emergency sirens to alert Lahaina’s residents to flee.MAUI, HI –   I often go after the mainstream media for failing to tell the entire story. This time I give credit to the Associated Press for a job well done. The AP wrote a thorough article about what happened during the Maui fires and why so many people died.

The AP reports, the only road leading to the main highway out of the area had been barricaded by police.

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One family swerved around the barricade and was safe in a nearby town 48 minutes later, another drove their 4-wheel-drive car down a dirt road to escape. One man took a dirt road uphill, climbing above the fire and watching as Lahaina burned. He later picked his way through the flames, smoke, and rubble to pull survivors to safety.

Why was the road barricaded? Maui officials say the roads were barricaded because power lines were down and were worried about vehicles driving over them.

Many people died in their cars and trucks.

More than 13,000 structures have been destroyed and more than 100 people have died.

As the fire began to swallow homes in its ravenous path, Maui County emergency officials declined to use an extensive network of emergency sirens to alert Lahaina’s residents to flee.

The road closures — some because of the fire, some because of downed power lines — contributed to making historic Lahaina the site of the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. But there were many problems that day, and in some ways the disaster began long before the fires started.