A drone photo shows the extend of the damage caused by the blaze that destroyed two major businesses and many houses around them on 6 June. Photo: Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority

Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency for Ebeye, enabling a fast-track government response to last Saturday’s devastating fire on Ebeye Island.

Ebeye is home to about 8000 people next to the US Army’s missile testing range at Kwajalein. The fire left over 100 homeless and destroyed two major businesses on the island.

As it did in the wake of fire that destroyed the parliament last August, the Marshall Islands Cabinet moved quickly this week to declare the emergency, paving the way for access to assistance for those who lost their homes as well as the businesses that were destroyed.

Finance Minister David Paul, who is one of three Kwajalein representatives in Nitijela (parliament), said earlier this week that the national government is committed to acting quickly and working with the Kwajalein Atoll Local Government to respond to the disaster.

One of the first orders of business, Paul said, will be to clear the debris from the fire so that the area can be rebuilt.

In an interview, the Finance Minister indicated that contractors already mobilised on Ebeye, including Australian-based Hall Contracting and Marshall Islands firm Pacific International Inc, will be engaged by the national government to use their heavy equipment to clear the fire site.

“It’s important to demonstrate to the public that the government will make a fast response to mobilise and rebuild,” he said.

“President Heine is 100 percent committed to rebuilding Ebeye.”

Ebeye residents helped firefighters on Ebeye Island to quell a blaze last Saturday that destroyed two major businesses and many homes, leaving at least 100 people homeless. Pic 441: A drone photo shows the extend of the damage caused by the blaze that destroyed two major businesses and many houses around them on June 6. Photo: Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority. Photo: Sherman Hogue / USAG-KA Public Affairs Officer

The fire is estimated to have destroyed at least 10 homes, displacing at least 100 people who are now staying temporarily with other family members or at the public elementary school, which has opened classrooms temporarily to house families whose houses burned last Saturday.

It also burned down the large warehouse and all the inventory of Lucky Start store and razed the iconic Anrohasa Ebeye Hotel, the largest and one of the oldest hotels on Ebeye Island.

Fire fighters on Ebeye together with local residents were ultimately able to contain the blaze with the assistance of the Hall construction crew from Australia that is building a circle island seawall.

On the day of the fire, US Army Garrison, Kwajalein Atoll Commander Col Matthew Cannon opened the Army’s Emergency Operations Center to assist the local government.

He shortly thereafter dispatched a team to Ebeye to meet Mayor Hirata Kabua and assess the situation, according to a social media post from USAG-KA. Ebeye is three miles away from the Army based headquartered on Kwajalein Island.

Also on Saturday, USAG-KA sent a vessel with needed supplies and one fire engine with crew to stay on site in the event the fire were to flare up, according to the Army’s social media post.

Cannon thanked the USAG-KA community for coming together quickly to donate supplies for those families that lost their homes to the fire.

Heine’s executive order issued Tuesday followed a Cabinet decision Monday to issue the emergency declaration for Ebeye. The executive order is effective for 90 days unless it is extended.

Among other actions, the executive order allows the government to:

• Suspend procedures, rules and regulations that might otherwise delay action needed for the emergency response for Ebeye.
• Direct the National Disaster Council to conduct regular meetings and to monitor progress and recovery operations with the Kwajalein Atoll Local Government and the Kwajalein Atoll Disaster Committee.
• Establish a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Finance and the Kwajalein Atoll Local Government related to emergency response funding.

In a social media post Sunday, Minister Paul said that the national government would be working together with the local government to respond quickly to Ebeye needs in the wake of the fire disaster.

He emphasised that the entirety of Ebeye’s leadership – the four traditional chiefs for the atoll, Mayor Hirata Kabua and the KALGov Council, all three Nitijela Members including Drile Kili Kabua and Kitlang Kabua, and the Kwajalein Atoll Development Authority – will be working together to ensure recovery from the fire.