This, I think the reason for the large number of deaths in the event was that because there are no wild fires in Hawaii the government and people were unprepared for it. they have lava(which is not the same) but are used to dealing with that.

This will happen whenever an infrequent event happens. A large earthquake hits the British islands, complete clusterfuck, japan, they handle it. A hurricane hits Florida, they are used to it. southern California, everybody goes insane.