MAUI, HAWAII: The family of Rebecca Rans, a 57-year-old who died while attempting to escape the Maui wildfires with her partner, Doug Gloege, has taken legal action, filing a wrongful death lawsuit against multiple entities.
Rans' family has sued Maui County, the state, Maui Electric and Bishop Estate, Hawaii's largest landholder with roots tracing back to the Royal family.
Rans was among the 115 casualties in the deadly blaze that left 300 people missing. The family's lawsuit places responsibility on government officials for failing to utilize alarms to warn residents about the fire.
Rebecca Rans' family sues Maui county
The lawsuit holds Bishop Estates accountable for allegedly neglecting their fire-prone property.
"The combination of weather, uncontrolled vegetation and aging electrical infrastructure created a tinderbox ready to explode in Maui," the lawsuit alleged.
It added, "The risk was not theoretical. Grass-originated and grass-fed fires continue to increase in Hawaii."
Rans' family is seeking an unspecified amount of compensation in the lawsuit, which is one of 18 civil suits linked to the wildfires.
Prior to the disaster, Rans lived in Lahaina for over two decades with her three children.
When Rans's body was discovered, she had a single slipper and a gold bracelet inscribed with "kuuipo," which translates to "sweetheart" in Hawaiian.
The lawsuit attributes her death to the "carelessness and negligence" of the landowner defendants.
Amid the legal proceedings, Maui County has also initiated its lawsuit regarding the wildfire, placing blame on the power company for igniting the deadly fires.
The devastating event resulted in the destruction of more than 2,220 buildings and caused an estimated $5.5B in damages, prompting a state of emergency on the island.
Bishop Estate under scrutiny
Bishop Estate, the largest private landowner in Hawaii and a substantial charity with assets over $20B, is the sole beneficiary of the Kamehameha Schools, educating approximately 5,500 students, per the Daily Mail.
The family contended that both the landowner and the state failed to adequately maintain vegetation on their property to mitigate the fire risk.
"As someone who has spent nearly my entire life in Hawai'i, I have witnessed firsthand how the Island of Maui has been taken over by invasive, non-native and flammable grasses and brush vegetation," the family's lawyer, Jim Bickerton, said in a statement.
Bishop Estate or Kamehameha Schools said in a statement, "At this time, our hearts are with all affected by the Maui fires and their 'ohana"
Rans' family has reportedly raised questions about why emergency sirens were not activated during the blaze.
"Why weren't there alarms sounded?... She had severe arthritis in her feet. She could barely walk, let alone run," said Rans' sister Kathleen Hennricks per USA Today.
Rans' body was found behind a building with her boyfriend as they tried to flee the fire.
Hennricks remarked, "I feel like what we're doing is not just about my sister, but all the people who this happened to. And the people who are still not found."
