Beyond the plan: examining collaborative networks and perceptions in the 2023 Maui wildfire disaster

Purpose The 2023 wildfires on Maui prompted response and resilience across multiple fronts through public, private and nonprofit involvement. This study addresses how response networks are compared within policies and plans and the actual response and how the actual response is perceived by network actors. Understanding the coordination from policy to practice and the insights from active organizations of the network can better inform how disaster response and emergency management can improve organizational mitigation and preparedness measures. Design/methodology/approach Disaster management literature has identified that documentary data and interviews provide critical context to relationships in practice. This study utilizes both to better understand the role of nonprofits within these disaster response networks. Using documentary data analysis, we examine policy and plan documents at the local, regional, state and national levels and then compare this to post-disaster reports and news articles to better understand how organizations were identified in the network with the government response. The study provides further context with semi-structured interview data to better understand how those collaborations were perceived by participants who were part of these networks. Findings Our findings have indicated that contextually, many of these collaborative relationships – while not indicative of the planned networks – provided effective disaster response because of various elements, such as existing ties and COVID-19 experiences. Originality/value This case is a unique example highlighting coordination networks from the local level because it was extremely successful in part by the community and local nonprofit actors.