FBI Involvement in Maui Fire Rescue Raises Questions

Questions have been raised as to why the FBI is seemingly involved in the recovery of the bodies of victims of the devastating wildfires that spread across the Hawaiian island of Maui last week, as conspiracy theories circulate on social media.

FBI agents with the Evidence Response Team, wearing identifying T-shirts, have been pictured overseeing the preparation of refrigeration units on the back of a lorries in Wailuku, next to the Maui Police Forensic Facility, where human remains are stored.

Other images, purportedly from the same location, show agents preparing racks that appeared to be of the dimensions for storing human remains.

John Pelletier, Maui's police chief, described the wildfire that devastated the historic resort town of Lahaina as one that "melted metal," and suggested that many of the bodies of victims would need to be identified by means of DNA samples because they had been burned so badly.

FBI Evidence Response Team units are "responsible for collecting evidence so it may be used in court cases within the U.S. or internationally," the FBI says, with a unit in every FBI office. However, they are also "deployed to complex crime scenes and catastrophic world events to recover evidence."

However, none of the images seen by Newsweek show an FBI agent with, or handling, a body bag. Images captured by an AFP photographer on August 15 show workers wearing red "MORGUE OPERATIONS" shirts moving a body bag into a refrigerated storage container adjacent to the Maui Police Forensic Facility in Wailuku.

In a statement given to Newsweek on Thursday, the FBI confirmed it was on the island to assist the local police with the recovery of human remains, as well as the DNA testing of survivors "solely" to help identify victims of the fires.

"Am I the only one wondering why the FBI is involved in the Lahaina rescue and recovery?" one X, formerly Twitter, user asked in reaction to the images. "They're law enforcement, crime and intelligence. Shouldn't this be the National Guard or FEMA?"

This prompted responses speculating that they may have been helping with the provision of additional capacity as the death toll mounts, or were there in case evidence is needed. However, several conspiracy theories about the agency's involvement in recovery efforts also got an airing.

One user alleged the FBI "ALWAYS oversee all the crimes and crime scenes they commit," while another alluded to "organ trafficking" as a possible reason for the agents' presence.

One person even drew parallels between the wildfire that tore through Lahaina and a blaze in Santa Rosa, California, in 2017, which it was claimed was used to clear land for "appropriation by black ops."

The Tubbs Fire spread across an area of 36,807 acres in California, destroyed more than 5,600 structures and killed 22 people.

The FBI field office in Honolulu stated that it had sent a team to Lahaina, which was "assisting the Maui Police Department with their efforts to locate and identify those who are missing or may be victims of the wildfires in Lahaina by helping collect DNA samples from family members."

It added: "The FBI is committed to helping our communities during times of crisis, including natural disasters. The Maui Police Department requested assistance from the FBI in these DNA collection efforts.

"The FBI is collecting the DNA for the sole purpose of helping identify those reported missing and will provide the samples to the laboratory assisting the police department. No DNA will be retained by the FBI."

Large bush fires on Maui caused power outages, mass evacuations and extensive destruction to the historic resort town of Lahaina. The fires broke out early last week and spread rapidly on hurricane-driven winds from a passing storm.

So far, more than 100 people have been confirmed as dead and over 1,000 remain unaccounted for as emergency responders comb burned homes for human remains. Robert Dyckman, 74, and Buddy Jantoc, 79—both Lahaina residents—have been identified among the dead. A further three bodies had been identified, but the names of the victims have not been released while their families are being notified.

There is evidence to suggest fallen power lines during hurricane winds may have sparked some of the fires that spread across Maui, which was at the time experiencing a period of hot, dry weather.

Hawaiian Electric Industries is now facing a lawsuit from residents for not de-energizing the lines despite a warning of the strong winds and wildfire conditions from the National Weather Service.

The island's Emergency Management Agency has also come under scrutiny after it emerged that it did not activate warning sirens around Lahaina as the wildfires closed in. Herman Andaya, the agency's administrator, defended the decision, saying it "would not have saved those people" as they were trained to seek higher ground, which was where the fire was.

Update 08/18/23, 3:11 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from the FBI field office in Honolulu.