Two weeks after the fires on the island of Maui, in the state of Hawaii, theories are multiplying on the Internet. Considered the deadliest fires in the United States, the fires have killed at least 115 people, according to a latest provisional report.
Since then, on social networks, Internet users have been seeking explanations for these fires. Was there a desire to destroy certain poorer dwellings? A secret “smart city” project? 20 minutes unravels some of these false or inaccurate theories.
- Targets chosen by selective fire?
According to several viral videos on TikTok, X or Facebook, the fires in Hawaii are due to a very specific technology which could explain the existence of a selective fire. Filmed in aerial view, images show neighborhoods destroyed when others were spared. For Internet users, these homes would be those of celebrities, even millionaires. A post, shared nearly 3,500 times on X, claims that the fire “stopped in front of the millionaires’ villas”.
But besides the fact that we do not know who owns these houses, more likely hypotheses can explain why some were able to escape the fire. One case in particular was commented on as in this sequence from RadioQuebec.TV, a channel that relays conspiracy theories, and which has been shared nearly 8,000 times on Facebook. A red-roofed house appears undamaged as the landscape around is charred (as seen in the photo taken by AFP above). The images used by RadioQuébec.TV resemble those filmed by a drone from a hawaii real estate agent, who shared them on his YouTube account (and who also broadcasts the theories on a directed energy weapon). We can recognize the house from 6 min 35.
Honolulu Civil Beat, an investigative media from Hawaii, found the owners of this “miraculous house”. Far from the “selective fire” or “directed energy weapon” theories on social media, several factors – as well as luck – could explain why the fire didn’t destroy it. Tom and Dora Millikin bought this house in 2021 and renovated it themselves, with the help of a local carpenter, the outlet explains. The house is made of California redwood, known for its fire resistance, the roof had been replaced with a commercial-grade steel roof, “which can provide better protection in the event of flying flaming embers”, points out the media. But that may not be enough to prevent a house from catching fire.
One factor in particular is highlighted by Michael Wara, director of the climate and energy policy program at the Institute for the Environment at Stanford University in California, interviewed by the media. According to him, what could have made the difference was the fact that the landscaping had also been torn out and replaced with stones for about a meter near the house to prevent the original damage. caused by termites or runoff.
“What wildfire specialists call the zero zone or the ember ignition zone is sort of a key factor in determining whether or not houses are burning,” the researcher pointed out to from Honolulu Civil Beat. It is very important that nothing combustible is located within an area of 1.5m around a house (wooden fence, bush, dry grass, etc.), says the media, which was also shown by research conducted on thousands of homes that burned down in California. Michael Wara advises removing landscaping and installing stone or granite walkways to protect homes from fires.
- The consequence of “a smart city”?
What if these fires were linked to much more murky ambitions of the state? On X (ex-Twitter), in a video published on August 15 and viewed 38,000 times since, a woman testifies to the camera of the hidden ambitions of the Hawaiian government: to rebuild everything and make the island of Maui the first smart city that would be governed by Artificial Intelligence (AI). A congress would even have been organized last January during which “a project for the total overhaul of the city in smart city ” has been presented.
A conference was indeed organized on the occasion of the 56th edition of the Hawaii International Conference on Systems Science (HICSS), from January 3 to 6, 2023, but this one takes place every year. It aims to “present research on computer systems in the field of information science and information technology”, explains the summary of the event. “The creation of smart cities has been a field of research for several years now”, underlines the site. However, while the program showcases a lot of innovation and research around smart cities, none is actually focused around Maui.
- The presence of a directed energy weapon?
More broadly, the question of smart cities refers to another theory, that of the energy attack “directed towards the people of Maui”, underlines a publication shared nearly 8,000 times on Facebook. The goal would be to steal the “sacred Hawaiian lands” in order to make room for these new “smart cities”… A theory that had already emerged during the 2019 devastating fires in Australia.
Directed energy weapons do exist and are “weapons capable of propagating a beam of electromagnetic waves towards a target”, according to the French Intelligence Research Center (CF2R). “Directed energy weapons are a system capable of transmitting energy in a desired direction without a macroscopic intermediary and designed to generate effects on a target likely to disrupt its functioning or neutralize it”, adds an information report from the National Assemblypublished in 2023. But according to the latter, energy weapons would be especially “promising” in the face of small drones which are becoming increasingly difficult to counter.
- Why 106 deaths for 150,000 inhabitants?
Currently, US media and Hawaiian authorities report 106 dead. However, according to Internet users, “this island has more than 150,000 inhabitants, it is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, with an area of 1,902 km2”. In reality, it is the city of Lahaina which has been most affected and it has nearly 12,000 inhabitants.
As we specified earlier, at least 115 people have been killed and 388 are missing, according to the latest provisional report dated August 26. But counting the number of injured and lifeless bodies is not easy after a fire of this magnitude. “We are cross-checking all the lists in order to be able to determine who is still really missing,” announced Special Agent Steven Merrill at a press conference.
An official list of names was released by the FBI on Thursday August 25. However, the federal police had explained a little earlier in the week to identify another 1,100 missing. AFP did not obtain clear information to explain this drop. It is therefore still necessary to wait to know the final assessment of these fires.