The parties in lawsuits claiming damages for last year’s damages Wildfires on Maui have reached a global settlement of $4 billion, a court document said Friday, nearly a year after the deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in more than a century.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green’s office confirmed the $4.037 billion settlement, saying in a news release that it was reached after more than four months of mediation. His office said it “resolves approximately 450 lawsuits filed by individuals, businesses and insurance companies in state and federal courts over fires in Lahaina and Upcountry Maui.”
The seven co-defendants involved in the settlement are the State of Hawaii, Maui County, Hawaiian Electric, Kamehameha Schools, West Maui Land Co., Hawaiian Telcom and Spectrum/Charter Communications.
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Green said in a statement that the settlement “will help our people heal.” He stressed that he wanted to “speed up the agreement and avoid lengthy and painful litigation so that as many resources as possible can get to the victims of the bushfires as quickly as possible.”
The term sheet detailing the settlement was not made public, but liaison attorneys filed a motion Friday saying the global settlement aims to resolve all fire claims on Maui for $4.037 billion.
The petition asks the court to rule that insurers may not sue the defendants individually to recover money paid to policyholders.
“We have no illusions that this is going to make Maui whole again,” said Jake Lowenthal, a Maui attorney who has been selected as one of the liaisons to coordinate the cases. “We know for sure that it doesn’t make up for what they’ve lost.”
He noted that there were “extenuating circumstances” that made lawyers fear the trial would drag on for years.
Some attorneys involved have expressed concerns about reaching a settlement before a possible bankruptcy of Hawaiian Electric Company.
Now that a settlement has been reached, work must continue on the next steps, such as how the amount should be divided.
“This is the first step in ensuring that the victims of the Maui fire receive compensation as quickly as possible,” Lowenthal said.
The August 8, 2023 forest fire killed 101 people and devastated the historic downtown lahaina on Maui, one of several that broke out on the island. Thousands of homes were burned and 12,000 people were displaced.
In the spring, a judge appointed mediators and ordered all parties in the hundreds of lawsuits filed to participate in settlement talks.
In a June survey by the Hawaii State Rural Health Association, 71% of respondents in Maui County who were directly affected by the disease reported having a health problem. by the fires said they have since had to cut back on food and groceries for personal financial reasonsThe survey found that most Maui residents were more worried than hopeful about the future.
