The emergence of author Dr Miles Stones' book, 'Fire and Fury: Story of 2023 Maui fire', has sparked some wild online conspiracy theories. It is also not the only theory that has propagated in the wake of the devastating fires.

Since August 8, Hawaii's Maui island has been hit by catastrophic wildfires which have devastated the historic portions of Lahaina in western Maui. The latest death toll has reached at least 106 people, with an additional 1,000 individuals also reportedly still missing. The wildfires have been described as the most extensive natural catastrophe in the state's history, and are part of a worldwide pattern of extreme weather events which have been attributed to climate change. As with many major events, especially natural disasters, conspiracy theories have sprung up immediately online.

Wild conspiracy theories appear in wake of devastating Maui fires

Many mainstream media outlets have reported that the wildfires were caused by dry, drought-like conditions worsened by strong winds brought forth by Category 4 Hurricane Dora. However, in the week since the fires first started raging across the island, various people online have spun their own conspiracy theories as to how the fires first started.

One prominent theory doing the rounds on social media suggested the fires were not a natural disaster, but rather a kind of blast from space lasers or directed energy weapons (DEWS). Social media has once again been a hotbed of misinformation with various images of 'beams' emanating from the fires going viral on Twitter.

However, most, if not all, of these images have been debunked as fake.