Top public affairs officer from the Illinois National Guard describes Maui wildfire duty

Posted on October 27, 2023
Lt. Col. Brad Leighton is the public affairs director for the Illinois National Guard. (Photo courtesy: Illinois National Guard/Twitter)

By Dave Dahl

SPRINGFIELD – The Maui wildfire was anything but simple.

“It was all the homes and businesses, but it was that infrastructure as well, and it’s going to  take between 18 months and two years before they can even start to rebuild,” said Lt. Col. Brad Leighton, public affairs director for the Illinois National Guard. “Some of the photos – it looks like Hiroshima.”

Leighton was one of those who answered the Hawaii National Guard’s nationwide call for senior communicators in the wake of the wildfire. He stayed three weeks in September and this month.

Rumors, Leighton said, did not help.

“Rumors that the fire was intentionally set so that we could clear out the area so we can establish a ‘smart city,’ which was absolutely ridiculous. There were rumors that it was started by a government weather apparatus.”

Leighton said FEMA would reimburse Hawaii for his time there. And he adds his hosts told him to come back – this time, for a vacation.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected].

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