From The Hill:

Maui residents who disobeyed barricade survived fires: AP

Those who disobeyed the barricaded road closures during the Maui fires survived the disaster, while many of those who heeded orders to turn around perished in their cars and homes with no way out, The Associated Press reported.

At least 114 people were killed in the fires earlier this month, and the FBI is estimating that up to 1,100 more are unaccounted for. Officials are facing increased scrutiny for the emergency response, including why the emergency sirens were not set off and whether closing the roads prevented people from getting to safety.

In the early hours of the Maui fires, there were more than 30 power poles downed alongside the Honoapiilani Highway at the south end of Lahaina — a historic town that was decimated in the fires earlier this month. Officials closed Lahaina Bypass Road due to the fires, blocking the only way out of Lahaina to the southern part of the island.  

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said during a news conference that officers never stopped people from leaving the area, but the AP report suggests that residents were discouraged from disobeying the barricade. 

One family swerved around the barricade set up to escape the flames, while another resident took a dirt road uphill to climb above the fire, according to the AP. However, many others who stayed in the cars on that road were stuck in a gridlock, with fires surrounding them on most sides with the ocean on the remaining side.

Kim Cuevas-Reyes said that she survived with her two sons by ignoring orders to turn right onto Front Street, which has now been devastated by the fires. Instead, she turned left and drove in the wrong lane to escape the town.

This is evil.

The government murdered people.  There is no other way to describe this.

The government put up barricades which trapped people in harm’s way of a raging fire.

The people who survived disobeyed the barricades, going around them and off-road or in the opposite lane.

We at GFZ have always been advocates of owning firearms as a bulwark against tyranny.

It seems that having a 4X4 is another weapon in your arsenal against government oppression.

When the government barricades your escape from certain death, you kick it into 4WD and blaze a new path to safety.