as the death toll continues to rise nearly two weeks after destructive wildfires tore through western maui the response to the crisis has come under scrutiny more than 110 people have been killed in the disaster marking the deadliest wildfire in the us in over 100 years amid criticism gov josh green addressed a perceived lack of trust in officials in the wake of the devastating fires do mistakes happen absolutely in a crisis circumstance green said during a wednesday press briefing noting they started a comprehensive review within 72 hours in this screen grab from a video posted on social media buildings burn in lahaina maui hawaii on aug 8 2023 leidubzzinstagram hawaii attorney general anne lopez said an outside organization will investigate the state and county preparation and response to the maui wildfires the review will ensure that all aspects of the incident including any potential shortcomings in preparation response and communication are thoroughly examined hawaii state sen jarrett keohokalole said in a statement the review is expected to take months lopez said as the details of the response are being investigated emergency response and fire experts told abc news there are still unanswered questions in the response the tragedy shows how crucial timely alerts are when being threatened by fastmoving destructive fires and also how challenging it can be to get information to people quickly enough and for them to respond appropriately in a chaotic situation we still dont have all the story but i can tell you from experience there is no easy answer in the heat of the battle christopher dicus a professor of wildland fire and fuels management at california polytechnic state university told abc news more timeline how the deadly wildfires took over maui day by day like a freight train dicus said he evacuated in the creek fire in 2020 one of the largest wildfires in california history it was only my experience of being on fires in a lot of different places that told me that i needed to get out now he said we got out within about 30 minutes before the fire crossed the only road getting off the mountain hawaii officials said the fire that ripped through lahaina on aug 8 spread one mile every minute it traveled so quickly that there was little chance for those fleeing to outrun it an official with the federal emergency management agency told abc news this fire was moving like a freight train john mills an agency spokesperson told abc news whit johnson on good morning america on friday sarah deyoung a core faculty member in the university of delawares disaster research center told abc news wildfires are especially dangerous because they can be so fastmoving ive deployed for many different kinds of disasters hurricanes lava flows wildfires tornadoes earthquakes and wildfires in my opinion from everything ive seen when i deploy are so dangerous because they are so fastmoving and they can be so catastrophic she