lahaina yacht club fire damage

Lāhainā boat captain navigates loss and recovery after fire depletes family business

Lāhainā residents are taking stock of what’s been lost, as firefighters continue to assess the damage caused by the wildfires in west Maui.

Lāhainā boat captain Keao Shaw lives just two minutes south of Lāhainā Harbor. He didn’t think much about leaving his home Tuesday to help neighbors clear fallen trees.

"By the time I came back, I couldnʻt even get back to the house. My family and kids were with me and we had just the shirts on our back. And the houses are gone. Everything is leveled. Some of the boats that we had are at the bottom of the harbor now," Shaw said.

Shaw and his wife, ‘Iwa, run a small charter boat business out of Lāhainā called Makai Adventures and a tour company Kainani Sails.

They lost one of their two boats in the fire, but it’s their 10 employees and their well-being that is top of mind for the Shaws.

"They’re also my really good friends. And some of them are with child. It’s really hard to see what they’re going through," Shaw said.

"A lot of people lost their homes, a lot of people lost their jobs. And it’s like how do you even stay? I would love to keep them here," he added.

The Shaws have raised more than $21,000 so far online for their employees .

Meanwhile, the couple’s children, 5-year-old Nāhiku and 3-year-old ʻOlina, were forced to relocate to ʻIwa’s hometown on Oʻahu’s North Shore because both of their schools were lost in the fire.

"One of my biggest questions is four years ago we had a similar hurricane scare and it was the same scenario. The fire started up in the mountains and they were raging toward Lāhainā and all of Lāhainā had to be evacuated. I’m curious as to what started the fire and how we could have prevented it," Shaw said.

It is still unclear exactly what triggered the wildfires in Lāhainā. For now, Shaw will remain in nearby Honokohau Valley, while his wife and children start school on Oʻahu.

For additional coverage on the Maui wildfires, see below:

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A Journey Through Lahaina’s Endless Streets of Suffering

A historic Hawaiian town that was once home to 13,000 people is now a desolate ruin. With the death toll rising, the true scope of the tragedy is still unfolding.

As residents slowly returned and sifted through the debris of their homes, many were finding little to salvage. Credit...

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By Mike Baker

Photographs by Philip Cheung

Mike Baker and Philip Cheung reported from Lahaina, Hawaii, after the bulk of it was destroyed by fire.

• Published Aug. 11, 2023 Updated Aug. 15, 2023

Along the empty streets of Lahaina, the warped shells of vehicles sit as if frozen in time, some of them still in the middle of the road, pointed toward escapes that were cut short. Others stand in driveways next to houses that are now piles of ash, many still smoldering with acrid smoke.

A few agitated myna birds chirp from their perches on palm trees that have been singed into matchsticks, the carcasses of other birds and several cats scattered below them in the streets.

Across the town that was once home to 13,000 people, residents are slowly returning and sifting through the debris of their homes, some of them in tears, finding little to salvage.

New York Times Correspondent Reports on the Wildfires in Maui

Mike baker, the seattle bureau chief for the new york times, visited lahaina, hawaii, where raging wildfires have decimated the area..

We spent several hours walking through Lahaina, and, really, it’s a scene of immense devastation. I mean, it’s a mile-long spread of destroyed homes and rubble and ashes. There’s still properties that are smoldering. It was really just difficult to comprehend what we were looking at yesterday in Lahaina. It’s really a place that brings a lot of joy to a lot of people. For the locals, they have a really cherished sense of community in Lahaina. For the tourists, it’s a place where many people have some of their fondest life memories. Some of them had minutes or even just seconds before they realized they needed to get out. We met one man who was there and realized he didn’t have really any chance to evacuate, and he ended up lying face down in the dirt at a baseball field and spent hours as embers were flying overhead and around him. He called it like a, you know, a sandstorm of heat that he could not get away from. There’s so much work left to be done there. I think a lot of residents are pretty alarmed at how little support they’ve seen so far. The community has really stood up to fend for itself, driving pickup trucks out of town to get bottles of water, driving boats out to pick up gas for the community. To see the level of suffering and devastation and grief there, it’s, you know, it was really difficult to process, and it’s hard to think about where Lahaina is going to go from here.

In a neighborhood along the burned hillside, Shelly and Avi Ronen were searching the rubble of their home for a safe that held $50,000 of savings, left behind with the rest of their belongings when they fled the fire. They considered themselves lucky to have made it out at all: A man just up the hill did not survive, and neighbors told them that several children who had ventured outside to get a look when the fire was approaching were now missing.

“A lot of people died,” Ms. Ronen said, her voice breaking. “People couldn’t get out.”

As she spoke, her husband emerged from the rubble of the house with the safe in his hands, seriously charred, but intact. There were no signs of the key, so he bashed it with a rock until it broke open.

Inside it was a pile of ash.

In the wake of the fire that tore with stunning velocity through Lahaina this week, killing at least 67 people, much of the small, historic town was cut off for days from the rest of the island of Maui by downed power lines and police checkpoints. It sat in lonely desolation, the houses uninhabitable, the search for victims slowed by a lack of personnel and a growing conviction that no one would be found alive.

For centuries, Lahaina has been a focal point of Hawaiian history and culture , a former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom and a booming center of modern tourism that had managed to preserve its old-world charm. It was home to both vital relics that connected people to the island’s Indigenous history and a downtown of island-chic art shops and restaurants with astonishing views.

Now those treasures are gone, replaced by scenes that locals and officials have repeatedly likened to a war zone. As residents return to their homes, some are making reluctant but unavoidable plans for life elsewhere. With more bodies likely to be found as the searches continue, their town has become the scene of one of the nation’s deadliest wildfires of the past century.

It had all happened so fast, residents said. A brush fire on Tuesday morning had been contained, but then fire flared up once again in the afternoon. Stoked by hurricane-force gusts of wind, it was soon rushing down the hillside through town, tearing across a drought-parched landscape with little to stop it until it reached the ocean.

At the shoreline, where the fire had run out of room, waves lapped up to beachfront properties that had few discernible features of a home — a singed mailbox, a metal gate, a water heater poking up through the debris. An orange cat slipped out from behind the husk of a vehicle and then darted away.

A man could be seen pedaling his bike near the waterfront, checking on the homes of people he knew. With no power and limited cellphone coverage, he did not know how many people had died. When he learned it was in the dozens, he grew emotional, looking upward and blinking back tears.

Several blocks to the north, past the school buildings gutted by flames, the town’s prized banyan tree sat wounded, its leaves curled and crispy. Sitting alone below its inadequate shade was a man named Anthony Garcia.

When the fire began raging, some people had only minutes to flee, jumping into cars or simply running as fast as they could as the inferno spit embers onto their necks.

Mr. Garcia, 80, said he had been eating chips and salsa and sipping on a beer in a local restaurant when smoke suddenly began to billow through town. He made it back to his apartment to grab medications but then ran out of time. He sought refuge on a nearby baseball field. For what seemed like hours, he lay face down in the dirt, his throat burning, his skin baking. “It was like a sandstorm of heat and embers,” he said.

Somehow, the fire spared him. But with his apartment and all his belongings gone, he has been sleeping outside, unsure of where to go.

“I really don’t know what I’m going to do,” Mr. Garcia said. “I’m in God’s hands.”

On nearby Front Street, a small group of firefighters and work crews were moving debris to clear the roadway, but few were navigating through the broad devastation further east. Many there said little help was being sent; locals had taken matters into their own hands, shuttling in water bottles in pickup trucks and gas by boat. Some drove cautiously through the streets, offering food or aid to those in need.

In the Lahainaluna neighborhood along the hillside, Lanny Daise, 71, pulled up to the house that had been built by his wife’s grandfather decades ago. Now it was a pile of twisted metal atop a charred foundation. As he navigated the debris, he kept stopping, sighing and taking photos on his phone. Nothing was salvageable, save for a couple of wrenches.

Two blocks further up, Benzon and Bella Dres were hunting for jewelry and not having any luck. Their rented house was gone and they had lost everything. Ms. Dres was wearing a pink shirt given to her by a manager at the hotel where she worked. For now, they were staying at another hotel where Mr. Dres worked, but, with no money or belongings, they were uncertain of the future. Eventually, they stopped searching.

“Everything’s gone,” Ms. Dres said.

As they drove away, traveling past downed power lines, Felina De La Cruz and her family were arriving at a house nearby, a property with multiple units that was home to 17 people from four families. Ms. De La Cruz said that when they moved from the Philippines to Lahaina two decades ago, they knew upon arriving that it was where they wanted their home to be. It was a community where everyone took care of each other, she said.

The neighborhood, perched on a hillside with a picturesque view of the town, the waterfront and the sunsets beyond, had a different view now: Ms. De La Cruz looked out on nearly a mile of charred homes below, the smoke still rising into the sky and casting a haze over the town.

Nothing was clear. With no belongings and no permanent place to live, it was a mystery where she and her husband would go with their three children. When would anyone be able to live here again?

“It’s so, so sad,” she said. “I love this place. I love Lahaina. I want to live here. But, I don’t know.”

Mike Baker is the Seattle bureau chief, reporting primarily from the Northwest and Alaska. More about Mike Baker

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Lahaina Fire Comprehensive Timeline Report Released by the Attorney General of Hawaiߵi

Hawaiߵi state officials released the Lahaina Fire Comprehensive Timeline Report , which is the first phase of an independent analysis conducted by the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), part of UL Research Institutes. The report chronologically details the major events and response efforts related to the catastrophic fire that struck Lahaina, HI, on August 8–9, 2023.

In August 2023, shortly after the fire, Hawaiߵi Attorney General Anne E. Lopez selected FSRI for subject matter expertise in fire dynamics and structure-to-structure fire spread. After a site visit and initial consultation with FSRI researchers in Lahaina, Attorney General Lopez engaged FSRI to conduct a comprehensive, independent analysis of the Lahaina fire. This first report focuses on the events that occurred prior to, during, and immediately following the Lahaina fire, such as preparedness efforts, weather and its impact to infrastructure, and other fires occurring on Maui for the time period beginning at 14:55 (2:55 p.m. HST) on August 8, 2023, and concluding at 08:30 (8:30 a.m.) on August 9, 2023. Data from the three (3) other Maui fires is also included in specific sections to give context to the situation in Lahaina.

FSRI conducted an extensive data collection effort to establish a comprehensive timeline and fact base around the Lahaina fire. This report pieces together a detailed timeline of preparedness efforts, fire progression, evacuation activities, emergency response, and fire suppression actions based on a comprehensive array of data sources including radio communications and transcripts, video, images (still images or image capture from digital videos), emergency logs, technical discussions with authorities and residents, text and phone logs, email records, automatic vehicle location applications, social media posts, witness accounts, and corroborated personal experiences. Mapping and analysis illustrate how the fires moved from the wildland into Lahaina’s neighborhoods, rapidly transforming from a grassland fire into an urban conflagration.

Data collection for this report consisted of gathering all known available facts relating to the Lahaina fire as well as the preparedness efforts by the Maui Fire Department, Maui Police Department, Maui Emergency Management Agency, and state, federal and private cooperating agencies. These facts included time-stamped conditions (i.e., damage to buildings due to wind, fire, smoke, fallen trees and utility poles, traffic, etc.) and actions (i.e., evacuation, fire suppression, rescues, etc.). Data requests were prioritized by their value in establishing an event timeline and understanding the facts of the conditions existing prior to and during the incident. This data offers the most precise representation of the fire’s rate of spread through Lahaina and the corresponding response efforts.

“FSRI’s goal was to thoroughly document the facts around this tragic event to allow for subsequent analysis and lessons learned, While the phase one report does not analyze causation, it lays the critical foundation for examining the policies, practices, preparedness, and response that will ultimately improve public safety and resilience against similar fire disasters.” —Steve Kerber, Executive Director and Vice President, FSRI. 

The resulting timeline in this first report will serve as the foundation for the Incident Analysis Report, which will be developed in the second phase of FSRI’s independent analysis. The second phase will provide detail on conditions influencing the original fire situation, attempts to stop its rapid progression through Lahaina Town, and evacuation efforts. Phase Two will leverage science and evidence-based analyses with information from FSRI’s fire dynamics research , local subject matter experts, industry standards and best practices, and the collective experiences of FSRI’s team.

Download the Full Report

Access the Minute-by-Minute Timeline

For additional materials related to the Lahaina fire, visit the State of Hawaiߵi Department of the Attorney General's website .

On August 8-9, 2023, the town of Lahaina, Hawaiʻi (on the island of Maui), endured a devastating fire fueled by environmental conditions, leading to 101 fatalities, widespread destruction, and devastating community impacts. The Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI) conducted an extensive data collection effort to establish a comprehensive timeline and fact base around the Lahaina fires. This Lahaina Fire Comprehensive Timeline Report (Phase 1) report focuses on the events that occurred prior to, during, and immediately following the Lahaina fire, such as preparedness efforts, weather and its impact to infrastructure, and other fires occurring on Maui for the time period beginning at 14:55 (2:55 p.m. HST) on August 8, 2023, and concluding at 08:30 (8:30 a.m.) on August 9, 2023. Data from the three (3) other Maui fires is also included in specific sections to give context to the situation in Lahaina.

Research Project: Maui Wildfires Analysis Report Title: Lahaina Fire Comprehensive Timeline Report Report Authors: Steve Kerber and Derek Alkonis Download the Report:  https://doi.org/10.54206/102376/VQKQ5427 Access the Timeline:  Lahaina Fire Minute-by-Minute Timeline Release Date: April 17, 2024

Lahaina Fire Report

Press Release

Read the Attorney General of Hawaii's press release announcing the launch of the Lahaina Fire Comprehensive Timeline Report.

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Maui wildfires death toll climbs to 55, officials say

By Aditi Sangal , Adrienne Vogt , Matt Meyer , Elise Hammond , Maureen Chowdhury , Elizabeth Wolfe and Tori B. Powell , CNN

Lahaina fire is 80% contained, but tens of thousands of people are still without power in Maui

From CNN's Cheri Mossburg

The wildfire that devastated the Lahaina section of Maui is now 80% contained, the county said Thursday.

More than 1,300 residents and tourists stayed in emergency shelters overnight before many of them were taken to the airport to leave the island, the statement said. About another 1,400 people slept at the airport Wednesday night.

Lahaina remains without power with nearly 11,000 people in Maui without electricity, according to  PowerOutage.Us . State and county crews are working to clear roads, but entry into Lahaina remains restricted.

Firefighters battling the other two major wildfires on Maui are also making progress in securing the perimeters, Maui County said. 

The Pulehu fire in Kihei is 70% contained and firefighters are still determining the containment of the Upcountry fire in the center of the island, where state forestry workers are leading the effort on the northern slopes of Haleakala. On the other side of the Upcountry fire, flames are most active in gulches that are difficult to access.

Hawaii governor tours wildfire-scorched Lahaina

From CNN’s Andy Rose

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green traveled to the heavily-damaged western Maui community of Lahaina on Thursday.

Officials at the state Emergency Management Agency in Honolulu did not have further details on Green's movements Thursday morning because of poor communications in the emergency area.

Maui Police  are limiting entrance  to Lahaina to emergency workers, including National Guard members and rescue personnel.

Green and Maui Mayor Richard Bissen are scheduled to hold a news conference in Wailuku – the county seat of Maui – at 3:30 p.m. HST (9:30 p.m. ET)

"It looked like it was raining fire": Lahaina resident tried to battle fires to save his apartment

From CNN’s Jillian Sykes

Bosco JR Bae is new to Hawaii, but he still risked his life trying to save his Lahaina apartment building from the raging fires that erupted on Tuesday. 

The Air Force veteran used his survival skills, covering his face with a wet towel and grabbing a water hose to stop the spread as much as possible. 

“Everything was on fire,” he told CNN. “At one point I had to stay on the ground to wait for the thick smoke to clear.”

Bae and a friend battled the fires for a couple of hours before it became too much to handle.

It was too late to grab any possessions when they eventually evacuated the area around 8 p.m. local time on Tuesday.

“It seemed like we were the last two people to leave. There wasn’t another person in sight,” Bae said, recalling the abandoned cars and downed powerlines as they fled Front Street — something he called "apocalyptic looking.”

A friend in the area told Bae on Thursday that as of now, the apartment building is still standing. However, the Harte International Gallery, where Bae is employed, is burned to the ground.

"One-of-a-kind pieces of art that will never be seen again,” Bae said.

Bae said he is waiting to find out when the roads will open again so he can go back to the apartment and dig through the ashes of what’s left of his home.

Legendary Lahaina banyan tree damaged as decades of rich history up in flames in Maui

From CNN's Alisha Ebrahimji

The disastrous wildfires in Maui have  ransacked  virtually every aspect of life, killing  at least three dozen people  while scorching or imperiling buildings important to Hawaiian history, as well as a majestic tree known as a symbol of the island’s culture.

Much of the western Maui community of Lahaina, home to about  12,000 , has been destroyed, displacing hundreds of families, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said  Wednesday . More than  270 structures  have been impacted in Lahaina, county officials added, many of them near one of the largest and most storied banyan trees in the United States.

A top tourist attraction, Lahaina once was the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, beloved by its kings and queens, as well as whaling ship crews and missionaries, according to the  National Park Service . It’s been a National Historic Landmark for more than six decades.

With  cell service  down on the island and witness reports still coming in, here’s what we know so far about some of the important places affected by the wildfires:

• The banyan tree: Imported from India and planted in front of the Lahaina Courthouse and Lahaina Harbor in 1873, the tree is one of the largest of its kind in the United States. Now, the fires have left little to no vegetation on the tree, satellite imagery and video on the Instagram account @lei_dubzz shows. The tree stretches an entire city block and is more than 60 feet tall, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
• The Baldwin Home Museum: Just north of the tree, the  Baldwin Home Museum  — an 1830s-era house believed to be the oldest on Maui — has been reduced to ash, Lahaina Restoration Foundation Executive Director Theo Morrison  confirmed to CNN  on Wednesday. The original four-room, single-level structure was built in the 1830s with a direct view to the Lahaina landing, where whaling ships would anchor, according to the  foundation .
• Waiola Church: Songs of worship in English and Hawaiian echoed for decades through the  Waiola Church  before its walls were swallowed Tuesday by wildfire flames, a Maui News photo of the inferno shows. The church had just celebrated its  200th anniversary in May . Its graveyard is the final resting place of early members of the Kingdom of Hawaii’s royal family, according to the church’s  website .

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Maui resident scours shelter lists and anxiously awaits text messages from missing friends

Maui resident Clint Hansen's family is safe, but he is scouring entry lists at shelters and holding out hope he'll hear from friends who are still missing as wildfires carve a path of devastation through the island.

Hansen lives on the south side of Maui, where fires initially spread but largely petered out, he told CNN's Jake Tapper in an interview Thursday. That wasn't the case in the town of Lahaina and other areas on the west side of the island, where wind gusts have driven destructive fires and killed at least 36 people.

Hansen, who works in real estate and operates a paintball field, says he has missing friends on Maui. He's been "sending out texts but not hearing back — hoping that this is just a battery issue or a cell phone tower issue." Communication signals have been severely limited on the island during the disaster.

He shared one harrowing story of a friend who was on the phone with his mother when he had to get out of his car and jump into the ocean to avoid approaching flames. He was telling her he loved her and asking her to look after his daughter, Hansen said. Then she didn't hear from him for a day.

But the man and his girlfriend survived, finally turning up at a shelter "beaten up, both emotionally and physically," but alive. He was able to help multiple other people on a long trek to safety, Hansen said.

While he awaits word from other friends and processes the devastating images of damage from elsewhere on the island, Hansen has been flying his drone over the burn areas in his community to get a better picture of the wildfire threat.

He told Tapper that he believes resources were stretched too thin by the scattered nature of the initial fires, leaving officials playing catch up in the areas that ended up taking the brunt of the disaster. Hansen urged anyone who can contribute to make donations to organizations helping people on the island.

If you're looking for more information on relief efforts, here's how to help victims of the wildfires.

Hawaii banks disrupted by wildfires will be allowed to temporarily close, US regulator says

From CNN's Matt Egan

Federal regulators issued an order on Thursday permitting banks that have been impacted by the catastrophic wildfires in Hawaii to temporarily close.

The  Office of the Comptroller of the Currency  said “severe weather conditions” including wildfires and high winds amount to an “emergency condition” in parts of Hawaii.

The regulator said the proclamation only applies to bank branches and federal savings associations “directly affected by potentially unsafe conditions.”

“Those offices should make every effort to reopen as quickly as possible to address the banking needs of their customers,” the OCC said in a  statement .

Regulators often give banks leeway to temporarily close in the aftermath of hurricanes, tropical storms and other natural disasters.

3 patients currently admitted to Maui Memorial Medical Center for fire-related reasons, hospital official says

From CNN's Taylor Romine

There are currently three patients who have been admitted at Maui Memorial Medical Center for treatment related to the island's wildfires as of 10 a.m. local time (4 p.m. ET,) spokeswoman Mahie Wong told CNN Thursday. 

She added that as the hospital continues to treat patients, the number "could change in a moment."

On Wednesday, the medical center said it was treating patients for "burn, smoke inhalation, and other fire-related injuries" as a result of the fires on the island.

California will send a search and rescue team to Maui

From CNN’s Stephanie Becker

A search and rescue team with the California Office of Emergency Services is being deployed to Maui to search for survivors and assist recovery efforts in the hardest-hit areas of the island, according to agency spokesperson Brian Ferguson.

The specialized team members of California’s Urban Search & Rescue Task Force include local government firefighting personnel from Oakland, Sacramento and Riverside counties. 

Additional Cal OES members specializing in urban search and rescue and mass fatality management have also been deployed to support Hawaii’s emergency management operations, Ferguson said.  

It’s unclear when the California teams will be on the ground in Maui.

Airlines adjust schedules to help people escape wildfires on Maui

Several airlines that operate flights to Maui are changing their schedules to help people get off the island as wildfires continue to burn on Thursday.

Maui County officials are  asking  visitors to leave Lahaina and Maui as soon as possible. More than 11,000 people were flown out Wednesday, according to Hawaii Department of Transportation director Ed Sniffen. Some airlines brought larger planes to accommodate those efforts.

Here's an update on what some airlines are doing as evacuations continue:

• United said it is monitoring conditions on the ground. The airline canceled its flights to Kahului Airport in Maui County on Thursday, it said in a post . The planes instead will fly empty so that they can be used to shuttle passengers back to the mainland, it said.
• Southwest is adding more flights between islands as well as back to the mainland, the airline said in a post. The goal is to keep people and supplies moving in and out of the affected areas.
• Alaska Airlines is still operating its scheduled departures from Maui, however, it has put in place a more flexible policy "to allow guests to leave the island as soon as needed or postpone planned travel to the island," it said in a post .
• Hawaiian Airlines is still flying to and from Kahului Airport, it said in a post . The airline said it is "coordinating with the state, county and non-profits to transport first responders, equipment and supplies to Maui." More flights are also being added to fly guests off the island, it said.

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See the historic sites of Lahaina before and after the Maui wildfires

The landmarks of Lahaina have been badly damaged and restored before. Preservationists hope to rebuild

Plantation-era wooden buildings turned to ashes. Landmarks made from coral, lava rock and concrete hollowed out by flames. A once-quaint historic street blackened and wrecked.

The wildfire that ravaged Maui this week , killing at least 80, decimated homes and incinerated cultural sites in the historic town of Lahaina . As rescue crews continue working and more than 14,000 people face displacement, the focus there is on helping those who lost their homes, treating the injured and locating the hundreds still missing.

Hawaii utility under scrutiny for not cutting power to reduce fire risks

Adding to the devastation is the loss of some of Lahaina’s culturally rich places, spots that visitors to Maui remember and locals had painstakingly preserved. Over the last 200 years, most of them have been damaged or destroyed – by the strong Kauaula wind, by accidental fires, by time – and rebuilt.

That could happen again, meaning the precious sites may not be lost forever.

“I know we’re going to rebuild, and I know the entire town is going to come together,” said Kimberly Flook, deputy executive director of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation.

“The physical manifestation of the many stories of Lahiana have been lost, but the stories themselves are not,” she said. “The stories have not gone anywhere. The culture lives in the community.”

What we know about the cause of the Maui wildfires

The town is rich in royal Hawaiian history and home to remnants of the missionary era — a place sometimes called Maui’s crown jewel or the colonial Williamsburg of the Pacific. Taking stock of the wreckage there was only just beginning. Flook’s organization was making assumptions about buildings’ fates based on videos and photos, satellite images and the path of the fire.

Maui wildfire updates

Ticking through a list of the town’s historic sites meant ticking through a list of places that were likely mostly destroyed, from a Chinese hall that once served as a social center for immigrants to an erstwhile jail that rounded up rowdy sailors for infractions like drunkenness and adultery.

“It was basically a matchbox waiting to go up,” Lee Anne Wong, executive chef at Papa’aina at the now-decimated Pioneer Inn, said of Lahaina’s historic district. “It was all old wood buildings that had been dried out in the sun.”

Maui fires not just due to climate change but a ‘compound disaster’

Wooden structures – the Wo Hing Museum and Cookhouse, the cell blocks and gatehouse at the Old Lahaina Prison – are presumed to be gone. The Waiola Church, which recently celebrated its 200th anniversary, was engulfed in flames. The Lahaina Harbor was charred and blackened, wreckage floating in the water.

Lahaina historic districts map

Historic district 1

Historic district 2

Historic site

Papalaua St.

Lahainaluna Rd.

Catholic Church

Bolles’

Stone house

Holy Innocents

1. Wo Hing Museum

2. Masters Reading Room

3. Baldwin Home

4. Old Courthouse

5. Holy Innocents Church

6. Waiola Church

Sources: Maui County, Planet Labs PBC

Photos: Eric Broder Van Dyke/Getty Images,

B. David Cathell/Alamy Stock Photo, Atomazul/Shutterstock,

YinYang/Getty Images, Crbellette/Shutterstock,

Courtesy of Lahaina News

SAMUEL GRANADOS / THE WASHINGTON POST

Luakini St.

Richard’s

Ship Market

Stone House

Fanny Young’s

Malu-ulu-o-lele Park

Waiola Church

Photos: Eric Broder Van Dyke/Getty Images, B. David Cathell/Alamy Stock Photo, Atomazul/Shutterstock,

YinYang/Getty Images, Crbellette/Shutterstock, Courtesy of Lahaina News

Stone and concrete buildings – the Baldwin Home, the oldest house on Maui; the Old Lahaina Courthouse, which housed a heritage museum; the Masters Reading Room, an 1800s club for ship captains – may have their walls left. Made of coral, lava rock and concrete, such historical buildings often had wooden floors, roofs and other parts, Flook said. She saw a video of Baldwin Home on fire and satellite images showed the courthouse’s coral block walls left standing.

After five hours in ocean, Maui fire survivor is ‘blessed to be alive’

The restaurant Fleetwood’s – which stood on the merchant site that served as the town’s “center of life” in the Plantation Era, Flook said – was reduced to charred walls and rubble.

The destruction is “pretty devastating,” said Nicholas Rajkovich, a University of Buffalo architecture professor who briefly lived on Maui in the mid-2000s.

Powered by hurricane-force winds, the wildfires on Maui nearly impossible to prepare for or combat. In Hawaii, hurricanes and floods pose more common threats.

“We certainly knew that if a fire started, we were ripe for an issue, but natural fires weren’t a major concern,” Flook said. “In terms of climate change, we were way more focused on sea rise and king tides and tsunamis.”

In photos: The scene as deadly wildfires devastate parts of Hawaii

Sometimes, buildings can be moved or raised in efforts to guard against extreme weather. But that often doesn’t work for buildings of cultural significance, which are tied to a specific location and derive their meaning from their context, Rajkovich said.

And on the whole, little can be done to protect buildings caught in the path of such a catastrophic blaze, especially wooden ones, experts said.

“Based on the images I’ve seen, it seems pretty hard to imagine what could possibly protect a building in this context,” said Daniel Barber, head of the University of Technology Sydney’s architecture department.

The cultural loss is steep. Lahaina holds architectural and historic significance, and its buildings speak to the town’s Hawaiian origins, said Bill Chapman, head of the graduate program in historic preservation at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.

He is working with colleagues on a book about architectural conservation that was supposed to dive into Lahaina’s history. Now, it will require a caveat.

“We’re going to have to have a dark box in there,” he said, “to explain that Lahaina isn’t what it was.”

Most of the town’s landmarks had been painstakingly restored at least once over the decades. The Waiola Church, which had celebrated its 200th anniversary in May, had been destroyed by weather or accidental fires and rebuilt four times before: in 1858, 1894, 1947 and 1951.

And in 1919, a fire broke out that destroyed part of Lahaina. What was built in its place, Flook said, became “part of the flavor of the town,” an area people loved.

“We’ve rebuilt fallen structures from the ground up before, so it’s not impossible to redo it,” said Flook.

When they can return to town, the Lahaina Restoration Foundation staff will begin surveying the damage, starting on insurance claims and FEMA paperwork. Buildings with some stable bones left could possibly be restored; the wooden ones would have to be fully recreated, Flook said.

Eventually, preservationists will likely solicit donations and start making plans to rebuild.

For now, the focus remains on humanitarian aid.

Wong, the chef who worked at the nearly 120-year-old Pioneer Inn, described community efforts to help displaced people and coordinate donations of supplies. She was working with a group to make lunches for 2,000 people and dinners for another 2,000.

“The priority is life, is our neighbors and our friends and our family. … I can always build another restaurant,” Wong said. “We need to find safety and shelter and food and water. That is all anybody is thinking about.”

Natalie B. Compton contributed to this report.

Wildfires in Hawaii

What’s happening: After the deadly wildfire in Maui devastated the town of Lahaina, people search for their loved ones as they face the devastation of losing homes , schools and businesses .

How did the fires start? Officials have not announced a cause, though video and data shows it was probably power lines . The spread of nonnative grasses and hurricane-stoked winds could have been factors, along with the indirect influence of climate change .

What areas have been impacted? Fires burned across multiple Hawaiian islands — these maps show where . The town of Lahaina on the island of Maui suffered widespread damage, and historical landmarks across the island were damaged . These photos show the extent of the blaze .

Can I help? Many organizations are accepting donations to assist those affected by the wildfires. Visitors returning to West Maui are encouraged to practice regenerative tourism .

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A Number Of Investigations Have Been Launched Into The Maui Fires. Here’s Where They’re At

A long-awaited official cause for the Lahaina fire is being left to Maui County to determine, with help from the federal ATF.

Investigations into the causes of the Maui wildfires are entering a new phase, as government officials prepare to release reports in April and lawyers for fire victims accelerate their own inquiries previously stalled in the face of procedural maneuvers by defendants.

Lawmakers, meanwhile, are calling on state utility regulators to launch a separate independent inquiry, which is required by state law. A hearing on the Senate concurrent resolution is scheduled for Friday.

The Hawaii Attorney General’s Office this week said it will release a much-anticipated first phase of a three-part investigation on April 17. That report, which was due months ago under the state’s contract with fire investigators, will not speak to the cause of the fire but instead is expected to include a detailed timeline of the fire’s spread through Lahaina on Aug. 8.

Meanwhile, officials with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting Maui County with its investigation of the origin and cause of the fire, said Jason Chudy, an ATF spokesman in Seattle. The report by the Maui County Department of Fire and Public Safety could be released as early as late April, said Chris Stankis, the department’s public information officer.

But the reports from the state and county — which are also defendants in lawsuits brought by fire victims — aren’t the only investigations into what happened the day of the nation’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century. The fires killed at least 101 people and destroyed nearly 2,000 structures, displacing thousands of people.

Fire victims have filed more than 70 lawsuits against defendants including the State of Hawaii, Maui County, Spectrum, Hawaiian Telcom, Kamehameha Schools and Hawaiian Electric Industries and its subsidiaries. The investigations related to these lawsuits are accelerating.

“Things are really ratcheting up right now,” said Jan Apo, a Maui lawyer who is also serving as one of several liaison attorneys for wildfire plaintiffs’ attorneys. Apo said his firm has more than 1,000 clients lined up.

The investigations by plaintiffs’ lawyers had been stalled after defendants including Hawaiian Electric Industries, Spectrum and Kamehameha Schools moved dozens of cases from Maui state court to federal court. But, earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Jill Otake said the federal court didn’t have jurisdiction and remanded the cases to state court.

Now, Apo said, the plaintiffs can resume discovery of documents from defendants as well as third parties with relevant information. Already plaintiffs’ lawyers have gathered hundreds if not thousands of pages of documents, Apo said.

Ultimately “there’s going to be thousands and thousands of pages of documents” produced, Apo said.

Lawyers on all sides are working with Maui Circuit Court Judge Peter Cahill to establish a centralized document management system so the parties can have convenient access to what is expected to be a massive library of potential evidence, Apo said.

The lawyers soon will begin deposing company executives and key witnesses, possibly in late April or early May, Apo said. The depositions will produce a mountain of testimonial material on top of documents, plus evidence from the accident scene, Apo said.

Apo predicted the plaintiffs’ investigations will be more detailed than what the state and county release.

“Quite frankly, our discovery will be much deeper, much more detailed,” he said. “We will dive way deeper than anybody else.”

Apo said Cahill is setting aside time to begin trials later this year.

State Report Will Not Discuss Fire’s Cause

In the meantime, the impending reports from officialdom will add to the collection of narratives on what happened on Aug. 8.

Plaintiffs allege the electric and telecom utilities contributed to the Lahaina fires by failing to design, construct, inspect and maintain their infrastructure as necessary to mitigate fire risks they knew about.

The plaintiffs also blame landowners like Kamehameha Schools for allegedly failing to properly manage vegetation on their lands, which plaintiffs say allowed the fire to spread more rapidly. The suits assert the state and Maui County failed to mitigate known wildfire risks on Maui and didn’t implement evacuation procedures, which resulted in chaos, property damage and death.

Hawaiian Electric Co., HEI’s utility subsidiary, is one of the few defendants to talk about the fire’s cause. The power company issued a statement less than three weeks after the fires acknowledging that fallen power lines had ignited a blaze the morning of Aug. 8 — an event that had been widely reported and documented on social media. But the company said the morning fire was extinguished, so the fire that burned much of Lahaina was caused by something else.

The first phase of the Hawaii attorney general’s report is expected to come out first. That investigation is being conducted by the private Fire Safety Research Institute under a $1.5 million contract with the state.

The contract, which was signed on Oct. 5, called for the first of three reports from the institute — including a detailed timeline of events — to be completed in three months.

A second report will evaluate things like incident response, pre-incident planning, firefighting capability and the county warning and water systems.

But on Monday, Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced the release of the first report would be pushed back to April 17. A news release from her office said the attorney general has had to issue dozens of subpoenas to get information from Maui County.

Specifically, the release said that in November the attorney general “served three subpoenas upon the Maui Emergency Management Agency, the County of Maui Department of Public Works and the County of Maui Department of Water Supply seeking documents relevant to the investigation.”

Afterward, according to the attorney general, Maui said “subpoenas would be required for all further information, including documents and interviews with county personnel.

“As a result, the Department has needed to serve upon County of Maui agencies and officials, eight additional subpoenas for documents and 53 additional subpoenas for interviews, to date,” the attorney general’s statement said.

Maui County Report Will Determine Origin Of Fire

Meanwhile, the Maui Fire Department’s investigation into the cause and origin of the fires could be coming as soon as late April.

Chudy, the federal ATF bureau’s spokesman, said the bureau has sent a team of investigators, which he described as “the best of the best,” to conduct the investigation. The investigators are conducting follow-up interviews with eyewitnesses and gathering additional documents, Chudy said.

“The most important thing to ATF is that we provide Maui Fire Department with the most complete and factual investigative details for their origin and cause report,” he said. 

Stankis, the Maui department spokesman, said it expects to receive the ATF report as early as late March, after which it could take two to three weeks for the fire department to incorporate its own findings and complete the report.

“We’re really at this point mostly waiting for ATF,” Stankis said.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are pushing for an independent wildfire investigation by an agency not involved in wildfire lawsuits.

A Senate resolution introduced in early March notes that Hawaii’s public utilities law requires the Public Utilities Commission to “investigate the causes of any accident which results in loss of life.”

“Despite this,” the resolution says, “the Public Utilities Commission has failed to investigate the causes of the August 2023 Maui wildfires.”

The resolution goes on to urge the PUC to “comply with its statutory duty to investigate the causes of the August 2023 Maui wildfire” and submit a report at least 20 days before the start of the 2025 session.

The measure is scheduled for a hearing on Friday before the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee and the Public Safety and Intergovernmental and Military Affairs Committee.

The PUC has drafted testimony arguing it is “fulfilling its statutory mandate.”

The testimony, by Commissioner Colin Yost, outlines more than a dozen actions the PUC has taken in response to the fire. Those include issuing information requests to HECO related to grid engineering and operations, as well as the utility’s response to the fire. In addition, Yost wrote, the PUC has assigned two senior staff to support the ATF’s inquiry and has produced timely responses to inquiries from the attorney general.

Whether this will persuade the committees is unclear. The Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee’s chairman, Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, has taken a tough stance when it comes to perceived conflicts of interest by government investigators.

After it became apparent that Lopez would be overseeing the state’s official investigation of the fires while simultaneously defending the state against lawsuits accusing the state of wrongdoing, Keohokalole sponsored a bill that would have allowed the attorney general to appoint a special counsel in circumstances where conflicts of interest were present.

The bill made it through the Senate but stalled in the House after Lopez testified that the department is independent and already has a range of options when conflicts of interest arise implicating the attorney general personally or the office.

In an interview, Keohokalole said the problem under the current law is that only the attorney general has the power to issue subpoenas pursuant to such investigations.

“So what happens when the state is implicated in the investigation?” he said. “It’s a clear cut conflict of interest.”

Concerning the PUC, Keohokalole said he is looking forward to Friday’s hearing.

“We’ve been asking for months for some clarity from them on what appears a mandate,” he said.

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PHOTO GALLERY: A look at Lahaina in the 6 months since a wildfire destroyed the Maui town

FILE - The Rev. Ai Hironaka, resident minister of the Lahaina Hongwanji Mission, offers a prayer inside the nokotsudo, or columbarium, that survived being destroyed by wildfire, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in Lahaina. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - Photos of victims are displayed under white crosses at a memorial for victims of the August 2023 wildfire, above the Lahaina Bypass highway, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Aug. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP, File)

FILE - Lahaina, Hawaii, residents, who are affected by a deadly wildfire that devastated the community, hug one another after a news conference in Lahaina, Hawaii, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - Sacred Hearts School third-grade students read a book during an English language arts class at their temporary school site at Sacred Hearts Mission Church on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Mengshin Lin, File)

FILE - Volunteers make food, bottle water and supply deliveries to elderly residents impacted by a devastating wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

Brandon Rabang, whose mother Sharlene Rabang, 78, was named as the 100th victim of the August wildfires in Lahaina, poses for a photo with her ashes Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Kahului, Hawaii. Sharlene’s family fought to have her listed as a victim due to smoke inhalation after she died weeks after fleeing the fire. “Me and my mom was really close, we talked multiple times a day,” Rabang said. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

FILE - Rays of sunlight pierce through the clouds, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, above homes burned by wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Janet Spreiter, whose home across the street was destroyed in the August wildfire, stands in front of a flooded parking garage in a destroyed business complex next to the Lahaina Shores Beach Resort on Front Street, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Spreiter and other residents say they have concerns about the water with wildfire debris and toxins potentially seeping into the ocean or being pumped uphill to a tank that could seep into groundwater. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - Hawaii Gov. Josh Green, center, points to damage as he speaks with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell during a tour of wildfire damage, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Rev. Ai Hironaka, resident minister of the Lahaina Hongwanji Mission, walks through the grounds of his temple and residence destroyed by wildfire, Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - A general view shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - Zaevah Erickson-Castaneto, 7, jumps around as mother Erika Erickson checks on Mahina, 2, at the Honua Kai Resort & Spa, where they currently live after being displaced by the August wildfire Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in the Kaanapali area of Lahaina, Hawaii. Erickson-Castaneto’s great-grandmother Louise Abihai was among the victims in the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century that took the lives of at least 100 people and destroyed most of the historic town of Lahaina. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - Children, mostly those who lost their homes in the Lahaina wildfire, attend a toy giveaway by Project 5000, a missionary program, at the Church of the Nazarene, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Kahului, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - Displaced Lahaina wildfire survivor Lily Nguyen, who says she and her daughter fled into the ocean water for five hours to escape the fire, prepares pho at a Fishing for Housing protest Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, Kaanapali Beach in Lahaina, Hawaii. “Almost four months now and we live day by day, we don’t know what to do,” Nguyen said. A group of survivors is camping on the resort beach to protest and raise awareness for better long-term housing options for those displaced. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - Leis and flowers adorn crosses at a memorial for victims of the August wildfire above the Lahaina Bypass highway, Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

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LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — It’s been six months since a wildfire leveled most of Lahaina , a centuries-old town on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Authorities say 100 people were killed and three are still missing from the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century.

Nearly 5,000 residents who lost their homes in the blaze are still living in hotels . An acute housing shortage on Maui means they can’t find places to live, even with rental assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency or private charities.

Gov. Josh Green is pushing owners of Maui’s many vacation rentals to house displaced Lahaina residents so all evacuees can move into long-term housing by March 1. He’s also proposed a “tax amnesty” to encourage vacation rental owners to rent to residents. Maui County has adopted tax incentives with the same aim.

“The lack of stable housing has obviously been a very major source of anxiety for our displaced residents, especially for our families with children,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said at a news conference Thursday.

Bissen said housing issues have compounded the trauma of the fire for many residents and led to depression. He said mental health counseling was available at no cost.

Maui’s economy heavily depends on tourists , who have returned to the Lahaina area though some workers have struggled to attend to them while recovering from the disaster. Longer term, some worry that a redeveloped Lahaina will be too expensive for many Native Hawaiians and local-born residents and that they may have to leave their hometown.

Authorities are still studying what sparked the fire but an AP investigation found it may have started in an overgrown gully beneath Hawaiian Electric Co. power lines. Hurricane-force winds, severe drought and invasive grasses combined to fuel the blaze. Scientists say climate change is increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events of the kind that fed the inferno .

‘A scar on the face of Maui’: Lahaina is gutted; fatalities expected to multiply

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At least 53 people have died, dozens have been injured and hundreds of structures have been destroyed as fires have torn through Maui this week, forcing thousands to flee their homes and reducing much of the historic town of Lahaina to ash.

“What we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii state history,” Gov. Josh Green said in a public briefing Thursday.

Green issued a fourth emergency proclamation Thursday night to expedite aid to the western Maui communities devastated by the fires. The Lahaina wildfire raced with such speed that some of those fleeing jumped into the ocean to escape the flames and later were rescued by the Coast Guard.

Maui County officials said Thursday afternoon that at least 53 had died in the Lahaina fire, and the death toll was expected to increase in the coming days. One Lahaina resident, Tiffany Kidder Winn, saw a row of burned-out vehicles in the road, some of which contained charred bodies.

“It looked like they were trying to get out but were stuck in traffic and couldn’t get off Front Street,” she told the Associated Press, referring to the seafront roadway that was the site of multiple retail shops and restaurants.

An estimated 1,700 structures were damaged or destroyed by wildfire, including many small businesses, a church and a school, according to Gov. Green.

“Right now, we have a scar on the face of Maui that will be here for a very long time,” said Maui Police Chief John Pelletier. “Scars heal in time, but they always remain.”

Green said Thursday he expected the cost of the recovery to be in the “billions of dollars.” Accuweather had a preliminary estimate of damage and economic loss at $8 billion to $10 billion.

Three blazes — the Lahaina, Pulehu and Upcountry fires — remained active Thursday, officials said . None of the fires had been fully contained by 3 p.m. Hawaiian time Thursday, according to Maui Fire Chief Bradford Ventura.Officials said they were still battling flare-ups and that two C-47 National Guard helicopters were standing by for deployment.

“This is a deeply somber day,” Maui Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said. “The gravity of losing any life is tragic. As we grieve with their families, we offer prayers for comfort in this inconsolable time.”

President Biden on Thursday declared “a major disaster” in the island state, opening the door to federal funding and state and local recovery efforts . Residents affected by the fires can apply for “grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses” and other federal programs for business owners and residents, the White House said in a statement. The declaration also makes federal funding available to state and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations.

World & Nation

‘Gone forever’: Fire devastates historic Lahaina, former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom

The wildfire that ripped through Maui devastated Lahaina, a town boasting centuries of history and that was once the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom.

Aug. 10, 2023

At least 11,000 travelers were evacuated from Maui, officials said. The fires overpowered and closed many roads, which became congested and stranded hundreds of people as they raced to the island’s only major airport, Kahului. About 1,400 people stayed overnight at the airport, and many more were expected to arrive Thursday. Airlines have said they are adding more flights, reducing ticket prices and deploying bigger planes to aid evacuation efforts.

As winds diminished Wednesday, some aircraft resumed flights, enabling pilots to view the full scope of the devastation. Flyovers of the coastal town of Lahaina by U.S. Civil Air Patrol and the Maui Fire Department showed the extent of the loss, said Mahina Martin, a spokesperson for Maui County.

Aerial video showed dozens of homes and businesses flattened, including on Front Street, where tourists once gathered to shop and dine. Smoking heaps of rubble lay piled high next to the waterfront, boats in the harbor were scorched, and gray smoke hovered over the leafless skeletons of charred trees.

Rebuilding the local economy could take years, Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said, adding that the blazes remade the landscape, from destroying homes and businesses to taking down infrastructure and broadband capabilities. “It will be a long road to recovery,” she said.

An estimated 2,000 people have stayed in at least six shelters that have opened for evacuees, according to reports. The Red Cross said that some residents sought shelter overnight while others had visited during the day, seeking resources. State officials said the decision on when to allow residents to return to their homes would be made by Maui County officials and Mayor Bissen.

Although the rest of the state remains open, officials have asked visitors — a huge economic force — to leave Maui and urged others making nonessential trips to stay away from the island.

The airport was overrun with people trying to catch flights Thursday. Many major airlines do not offer short-distance flights between the Hawaiian islands, but carriers with major business on the island said they were doing what they could to respond to evacuation efforts and get passengers to the mainland.

The two largest airlines operating in Hawaii — Hawaiian Airlines and Southwest — have reduced fares to just $19 for flights leaving from Kahului to Honolulu International Airport on Oahu, where the Red Cross had opened shelters for evacuees.

Alaska Airlines said it would continue to operate its eight daily scheduled departures from Maui and also added a “rescue flight” Thursday to ferry more people off the island.

American Airlines said it was also adding flights out of Maui and upgrading planes to provide more seats.

United canceled flights to Kahului on Thursday so that planes could fly empty to Maui to return passengers to the mainland more readily.

Fires, floods, heatwaves. Is the extreme weather from coast to coast ‘a new abnormal’?

Floods, fires, extreme heat, awful air quality, warming seas: As extreme weather engulfs the nation, the United States resembles a disaster movie set.

July 12, 2023

West Maui remained without cell or landline phone service or electricity, the county said. Officials were working to restore power to some 10,000 homes that remained without electricity Thursday.

The exact cause of the blaze couldn’t be determined, but a number of factors including high winds, low humidity and dry vegetation likely contributed, said Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, adjutant general for the Hawaii State Department of Defense. The weather service had issued a red flag warning — which indicates warm temperatures, very low humidity and stronger winds are expected to combine to produce an increased risk of fire danger — but Hara said wind strength far exceeded the predictions, which were expected to be around 50 to 55 mph but shot up to 85 mph.

Experts also said climate change is increasing the likelihood of more extreme weather.

An update from the National Drought Monitor early Thursday showed drought levels increased across the state from 6% to 14% in the last week. Maui County in particular saw an increase in severe drought conditions, from about 6% last week to 16% this week.

Clay Trauernicht, a fire scientist at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, said in a tweet that while a nearby hurricane played a role, the problem lies largely with widespread “unmanaged, nonnative grasslands” from “decades of declining agriculture.”

“The transformation to savanna makes the landscape way more sensitive to bad ‘fire weather’ — hot, dry, windy conditions,” Trauernicht said. “It also means we get huge buildups of fuels during rainy periods.”

Hara said he was “personally surprised by the amount of fires.” At least three blazes burned across Maui: in Lahaina, south Maui’s Kihei area and the mountainous and inland communities known as Upcountry.

Firefighters dropped 150,000 gallons of water Wednesday, but high winds obstructed their efforts.

In the upcountry Kula area, at least two homes were destroyed Tuesday in a fire that engulfed about 1.7 square miles, Bissen said.

There have been no reports of injuries or homes lost to three wildfires burning on Hawaii’s Big Island, Mayor Mitch Roth said Wednesday. Firefighters did extinguish a few roof fires.

The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles, was partly to blame for gusts above 60 mph that knocked out power, rattled homes and grounded firefighting helicopters.

Luke activated the Hawaii National Guard to assist. Biden said the Coast Guard and Navy were supporting the response and rescue efforts, while the Marines were providing Black Hawk helicopters to fight the fires.

“Local people have lost everything,” said James Tokioka, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. “They’ve lost their house, they’ve lost their animals.”

Former President Obama, who was born in Hawaii, said on social media Wednesday evening that it was tough to see some of the images coming out of a place that is so special to many.

“Michelle and I are thinking of everyone who has lost a loved one, or whose life has been turned upside down,” he said.

Ke’eaumoku Kapu, the owner of the Na Aikane o Maui cultural center in Lahaina, said he and his wife didn’t have time to pack up anything before being forced to flee. “We had years and years of research material, artifacts,” he said.

Record heat. Raging fires. What are the solutions?

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Alan Dickar said he wasn’t sure what remained of his Vintage European Posters gallery, which was a fixture on Front Street in Lahaina for 23 years. Before evacuating with three friends and two cats, Dickar recorded video of flames engulfing the main strip of shops and restaurants frequented by tourists.

“Every significant thing I owned burned down today,” he said.

Anger builds after controlled burn badly damages California sequoias

A controlled burn in Calaveras Big Trees State Park has badly damaged a pair of giant sequoias named ‘the Orphans,’ outraging community members.

Lahaina is often thought of as just a Maui tourist town, said Tiare Lawrence, who lives nearby and had relatives evacuate to her home, but “we have a very strong Hawaiian community.”

“I’m just heartbroken,” she said. “Everyone’s lives have tragically changed in the last 12 hours.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

More to Read

Hawaii study shows almost 75% of Maui wildfire survey participants have respiratory issues

May 16, 2024

Maui sues cell carriers over wildfire warning alerts that were never received during service outages

May 3, 2024

Hawaii lawmakers take aim at vacation rentals after Lahaina wildfire worsens Maui housing crisis

April 21, 2024

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Alexandra E. Petri is a former Los Angeles Times staff writer who covered trends and breaking news. She previously covered live news at the New York Times. A two-time reporting fellow with the International Women’s Media Foundation, she graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism and international studies.

Jack Herrera is a national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, based out of Austin, Texas.

Jaweed Kaleem is a national correspondent at the Los Angeles Times. Based in L.A. with a focus on issues outside of California, he has traveled to dozens of states to cover news and deeply reported features on the complexity of the American experience. His articles frequently explore race, religion, politics, social debates and polarized society. Kaleem was previously based in London, where he was a lead news writer on Russia’s war on Ukraine and spearheaded European coverage for the Times, including the Global California initiative. Before joining The Times in 2016, he reported on religion for HuffPost and the Miami Herald, where he was a member of a Pulitzer Prize finalist team recognized for coverage of Haiti. His reporting has also received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Society for Features Journalism, the Asian American Journalists Assn., the South Asian Journalists Assn. and the National Headliner Awards.

Summer Lin is a reporter on the Fast Break Desk, the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news team. Before coming to The Times, she covered breaking news for the Mercury News and national politics and California courts for McClatchy’s publications, including the Miami Herald. An East Coast native, Lin moved to California after graduating from Boston College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Lin was among The Times’ staff members who covered the Monterey Park mass shooting in 2023, which was recognized by the Pulitzer Board as a finalist in breaking news.

Jeremy Childs is the former night reporter on the Fast Break Desk, the Los Angeles Times’ breaking news team. Before joining the newsroom in 2023, he worked at the Ventura County Star, where he covered breaking news and most recently served as the newspaper’s East Ventura County reporter. Childs grew up in Newbury Park and graduated from Occidental College with a degree in English and comparative literary studies.

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Boat owners check on vessels at Lahaina Harbor following fire

Atlantis Submarine Adventures’ 55-foot-long “Holokai” is seen on Monday. The boat was scorched but still had a working engine. Photos courtesy DLNR

The Maui News

Thirteen boat owners were granted access to check on their largely undamaged vessels at the Lahaina Small Boat Harbor on Monday, just over a month after the deadly Aug. 8 wildfires.

After receiving permission from Maui County and the U.S. Coast Guard, officers from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement escorted the owners in two groups to the harbor.

Most of the 13 boats, as well as the pier they’re tied to, appear to be largely untouched by the flames, DLNR said in a news release Tuesday.

Kelli Lundgren, owner of the “Lazy Daze” sailboat, called the remaining boats “the lucky 13.”

Kelli Lundgren stands aboard her sailboat, “Lazy Daze,” at the Lahaina Small Boat Harbor on Monday. Photos courtesy DLNR

“We’re still trying to analyze how that firestorm missed these boats,” Lundgren said. “It’s just incredible. As you can see there’s a lot of soot on them. We’ve been anxious for four weeks to get here. We’re happy our vessels survived, as so many of our friends lost their boats here. It’s quite tragic.”

The owners were permitted to board their vessels, do light maintenance and retrieve personal items. DLNR said there is no immediate timeline as to when the boats might be able to leave the harbor.

With 99 moorings in the harbor prior to the fire, most boats either burned or sank, and the water is filled with their hulls and other debris obstructing passage, according to DLNR.

A Unified Command with the Coast Guard, state Department of Health and DLNR is working in close cooperation with the county to prepare plans for salvage operations to restore the harbor and provide safe passage.

In the middle of the inner harbor, away from the line of 13 boats, Jim Walsh, the general manager of Atlantis Submarine Adventures, was thrilled when the engines on the company’s scorched passenger ferry started right up.

The stern of the 55-foot-long “Holokai” was scorched, but Walsh said, “We’re happy to see her. When I saw the condition the engine room was in, it was perfect, nothing the matter with it at all. Once I saw that I said, ‘Man we’ve got a good chance here.’ Sure enough she fired up just like that.” He snapped his fingers and thrust his fist into the air and exclaimed, “Yeah!”

Off-shore and in view from the “Holokai” is the company’s 48-passenger, bright blue Atlantis submarine. Walsh expects it is a total loss.

But for the other vessels, Lundgren says it was gratifying to confirm what she and the other owners saw the day after the smoke cleared.

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Maui fires: 6 dead, at least 271 structures impacted as Hawaii battles blazes

Coverage on this live blog has ended. Please follow our latest updates here.

What to know about the wildfires:

• At least six people have died in fires in Maui, officials said Wednesday. Some injuries have been reported, but officials did not provide a number.
• Crews continue to battle fires in Maui and the Big Island, which have been fanned in part by strong winds from Hurricane Dora, a Category 4 storm.
• The Coast Guard on Tuesday rescued 14 people including two children, who went into the ocean to escape the blazes and smoke.

At least 271 structures have been damaged, destroyed or otherwise impacted in the western Maui town of Lahaina after a devastating wildfire, Maui County officials said.

• The full extent of the damage may not be known for weeks or even months, acting Gov. Sylvia Luke said.
• Lahaina, once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, is destroyed in the fires.

Satellite images capture devastation in Lahaina from wildfires

Tim Stelloh

Phil Helsel

Satellite images captured the devastation on Maui Wednesday after a wildfire tore through Lahaina, a popular vacation destination on the island’s west coast that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii .

In one image from the company Maxar Technologies, the historic area of Banyan Court — home to the island’s oldest living banyan tree, at 150 years old — appears to have mostly been reduced to ash.

Other images showed similar devastation in and around Lahaina Square, a shopping area, and a neighborhood on the southern end of the town.

Read the full story here.

Visitors asked to leave Maui as soon as possible due to crisis

Visitors “with vehicles or any means of transportation” are being asked to leave the fire-ravaged Lahaina area and Maui as soon as possible, county officials said today .

The county made the request because officials have limited resources in what it described as a crisis.

Buses will be taking people from Sheraton Maui Resort in Kaʻanapali to Kahului Airport, the county said.

Widespread damage has been seen in Lahaina in western Maui from one of three wildfires. At least six people are dead, and western Maui does not have power or cell service.

Firefighters battling spot fires around Lahaina, no new evacuations

More than 100 Maui firefighters were battling three wildfires today, and helicopters have been making water drops and conducting searches, Maui County said .

No new evacuations were ordered in Maui, which has faced severe wind-fueled wildfires, but the damage in the western Maui town of Lahaina was called widespread.

There are three fires on Maui — the Lahaina, Pūlehu and Upcountry fires. The National Guard and other military units are assisting with helicopters doing water drops, officials said.

Firefighters in Lahaina were putting out spot fires around the community of around 12,700, the county said in a statement.

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell also tweeted that she has spoken with the state’s lieutenant governor, and that the agency has authorized federal assistance to help firefighting efforts.

‘Everyone I know in Lahaina, their homes have been burned down’

Residents who have fled their homes in advance of devastating wildfires have shared their heartbreak and uncertainty with NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu .

“Everyone I know in Lahaina, their homes have been burned down,” Tiare Lawrence, of the community on the western edge of Maui, told the station. She said she was trying to make sure everyone in her family is safe.

Holly Zackious, of Kula, found her home was intact but told the station that others in the neighborhood were burned to the ground.

“It’s awful the amount of damage that this fire wreaked havoc,” she said. “We’re praying for Lahaina.”

Gabe Johnson, Maui County council member for the island of Lāna’i, told KHNL that those who have not been affected are coming to help others.

“We rebuild. You know, Lahaina strong,” Johnson told the station. “It’s not just an expression.”

At least 271 structures damaged or destroyed in Maui fires

Andrew Blankstein

The state’s lieutenant governor said earlier today that it could be weeks or months before the full damage of the fires on Maui is known.

Fires continue to burn both on Maui and the island of Hawaii and high-speed and erratic winds continue to make it difficult to fly aircraft to get a better sense of the totality of the damage, a Hawaii Emergency Management Agency official said.

"Widespread damage to the West Maui town, the harbor and surrounding areas are being documented," the county said in a statement.

Wildfire decimates Lahaina, once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom

Sakshi Venkatraman

A historic seaside town that once was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii has been largely reduced to ash as wildfires continued to rip through the state Wednesday. 

Hawaiians say Lahaina’s disaster leaves them mourning the loss of a place dense with Native Hawaiian history and culture — and they’re bracing for what the tragedy will mean for their communities in the long term. 

“People are worried about their loved ones, their homes, their businesses, their jobs,” said David Aiona Chang, who is Native Hawaiian and a professor of history at the University of Minnesota. “So many of the disasters that hit Hawaii hit Native Hawaiians the hardest. It’s something that we are going to be dealing with for a long time.”

Satellite imagery shows Maui fires

Aerial video shows devastation in maui.

Helicopter video from Air Maui Helicopter Tours in Lahaina shows the devastation in the community of around 12,700 on the western coast of Maui, after wildfires.

Two patients in Maui fires in critical condition, hospital says

Two of five people being cared for at Maui Memorial Medical Center following wildfires on the island were in critical condition, Maui Health said today.

The hospital is treating five people in all, and seven others have been sent to Oahu for specialty services, some of whom suffered fire-related injuries, Maui Health, a nonprofit hospital organization, said.

Two new brushfires on Hawaii's Big Island

Two new brushfires started today on the island of Hawaii, also known as the Big Island, where fires have also been burning, officials said.

Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth has said the focus should be on Maui, where devastating wildfires have occurred, causing at least six deaths.

The new fires were in the Kaʻū region, and one of those was under control, the Hawaii Fire Department said .

The Akoni Pule Highway brushfire is about 60% contained but is threatening structures, according to the Fire Department, and there are fires in the Mauna Kea Beach area. People at the Mauna Kea Resort have been told to shelter in place.

Roth in a video briefing earlier today thanked assistance from state agencies and the National Guard in dealing with brushfires on the island.

Full damage may not be known for weeks or months

It’s expected to take weeks before officials know the full scale of the damage to Maui in the wake of wildfires, Hawaii’s lieutenant governor said today.

“This is not going to be a short journey. It’s going to take weeks and maybe months to assess the full damage,” Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who is acting governor until the governor returns early from a trip, said.

She said the state will provide whatever assistance possible, and federal aid was also sent or being sent to help in the wildfires and the aftermath.

“We will rebuild,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said at a news briefing.

Two UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters with water buckets, as well as three CH-47 Chinook with 2,000 gallon water buckets, have been or were being sent to Maui today to help, said Maj. Gen. Kenneth S. Hara, adjutant general for the state.

Also sent with one of the Chinooks is an “enhanced emergency response force package,” which involves a specialized team capable of confined space search and rescue, he said.

Maui has seen winds of over 50 mph

High winds from passing Hurricane Dora may have helped fuel wildfires in Maui, and today the National Weather Service said gusts on the island have reached as high as 67 mph.

In the 48 hour period between 10 a.m. Honolulu time Monday and Wednesday morning, the highest recorded gusts were between 45 and 67 mph, according to the weather service .

Forecasters had warned of fire risk due to high winds starting Monday, and a “red flag” warning about fires had also been issued.

Biden orders ‘all available federal assets’ to help

President Joe Biden and the first lady today expressed their condolences to the people of Maui, and Biden pledged assistance from federal assets.

“Jill and I send our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in the wildfires in Maui, and our prayers are with those who have seen their homes, businesses, and communities destroyed,” Biden said in a statement . “We are grateful to the brave firefighters and first responders who continue to run toward danger, putting themselves in harm’s way to save lives.”

Biden said he has “ordered all available Federal assets on the Islands to help with response.” The Hawaii National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard and the Navy’s Third Fleet is assisting, he said.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said that the state will be submitting a request for a presidential disaster declaration once officials know the scope of the devastation. Such declarations allow increased federal aid.

Urgent care clinics in Lahaina can’t treat patients, say their structures are either damaged or destroyed

Aria Bendix

Cliff Alakai, an administrator at Maui Medical Group, said he learned on Facebook that the group's Lahaina urgent care facility was damaged.

"One of our IT people found a picture and put a circle around our clinic. It’s a two-story clinic. It looks like the second floor is heavily damaged," Alakai said.

Alakai said Maui Medical Group operates four additional outpatient clinics outside Lahaina that are open to patients, but many Lahaina residents are hesitant to leave the area because road closures would prevent them from returning home, he said. Employees who live in Lahaina have called out of work, but so far appear to be safe, he added.

“Our employees who live out there are calling to say, ‘Yeah, we’re all right. Our house burned down, but we’re fine. We got out in time,’” Alakai said.

Justin Prouty, owner of Minit Medical Urgent Care, said he assumes his Lahaina facility is no longer standing.

"All reports coming out of Lahaina are super sketchy right now. There’s just no news there, no cell service so nobody can get any information. It sounds like a couple of our employees have lost their homes," Prouty said. "I’ve had reports that places around our clinic are burned to the ground, so my guess is our clinic is too."

Avoid nonessential travel to Maui, officials urge

Doha Madani

With wildfires raging, Hawaii officials urged both residents and tourists to avoid all nonessential travel to Maui.

There were at least 2,000 people at the airport overnight either attempting to leave or waiting for new flights to come in, according to Hawaii Department of Transportation Director Ed Sniffen.

"We made sure that we process them through this morning. We were working with our airline partners on all of that," Sniffen said. "There's another 4,000 visitors that we're expecting who want to leave the island from the west side."

Sniffen also noted that traffic on the highways will be congested as people are evacuated and certain areas of the island remain inaccessible.

Acting Gov. Luke also discouraged tourism to Maui as authorities struggle to contain the wildfires.

"This is not a safe place to be in certain parts of Maui," Luke said. "We have shelters that are overrun. We have resources that are being taxed."

Nigel Chiwaya

Helicopters able to take off for water drops as winds reduce

The Kula Fire has not been contained on Maui, but officials are hopeful that the situation will improve now that firefighters can deploy water overhead.

"I think a big thing that was hampering us yesterday is because of the high winds, we were not able to get helicopters in the air," Mayor Richard T. Bissen Jr. said. "It was not safe for them to do water drops. Apparently as of this morning that situation has improved."

Almost 100 firefighters have been working in shifts, including 11 who work for the state airport firefighting and rescue teams. Maui first responders were also offered assets from other local and federal partners.

The military has provided Black Hawk helicopters and a Chinook helicopter in addition to aircraft from the Hawaii National Guard, according to Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, speaking on behalf of the Department of Defense.

'Focus right now is to save lives and preserve lives'

Maui officials say that it's "impossible" at this point to quantify the structural damage from the deadly fires.

"Our main focus right now is to save lives and preserve lives," Mayor Richard T. Bissen Jr. said.

FEMA will assist with property assessments, Luke said.

6 deaths confirmed in Maui, mayor says

At least six people have died in the wildfires, and search-and-rescue efforts continue, Mayor Richard T. Bissen Jr. said.

Bissen said he's unsure of how that number might change as authorities continue to battle the flames.

"There were a lot of people putting things out on social media; we have not had a chance to yet to confirm any of that," he said. "We are still in that phase of gathering information."

More than 2,100 people have been housed in shelters.

Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said no fatalities had been confirmed in his county.

Burn patients flown to Honolulu

Several burn patients from Maui were being treated at Straub Medical Center, the hospital said in a statement. The facility has the only specialized burn unit in Hawaii.

The Honolulu Emergency Services Department transported one woman in her 60s from Maui to the burn center, agency spokesperson Shayne Enright said. The woman was in critical condition.

The department has also received reports of multiple patients being flown from Maui to Honolulu, she said.

Maui issues water conservation advisory

Alicia Victoria Lozano

Maui's water department is asking consumers across the island to conserve water to reduce demand and extend existing supplies.

 "The Department of Water Supply urges all residents and visitors to please be mindful of their water use and especially reduce outdoor water use," it said in a statement. "The Water Department is working diligently to ensure our resources are used as efficiently as possible and we need the community to do their part."

Customers are asked to not wash cars, sidewalks or driveways, or irrigate lawns until further notice.

Hawaii governor says he expects ‘some loss of life’ in wildfire catastrophe

Marlene Lenthang

Green said Wednesday he anticipates there will be casualties as a result of the wind-fueled wildfires scorching the islands.

“Heroic efforts by first responders have prevented many casualties from occurring, but some loss of life is expected,” he said in a statement. 

Green called the severe weather a “terrible disaster,” noting the wildfires have “spread widely” because of Dora's winds and the region already had underlying drought conditions. 

“Much of Lāhainā on Maui has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced,” he said. 

Green said he anticipates submitting a request for a presidential disaster declaration in the next 36 to 48 hours once the damage extent is assessed. 

He had been on personal travel until Aug. 15 but will return to the islands Wednesday night to respond to the crisis. 

Hawaii officials to hold news conference on wildfire

Hawaii state officials will host a briefing on the wildfires and the impact of Dora at 10 a.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) Wednesday. 

Luke, who is serving as acting governor because Green is traveling, will speak, along with the Hawaii County and Maui County mayors.

Emergency proclamation issued for Maui air travel

Luke issued an emergency proclamation Wednesday to extend the state of emergency to all counties and to discourage “non-essential air travel to Maui.”

The proclamation cited ongoing wildfires in Hawaii, fanned by Dora's winds.

“This is an unprecedented disaster as an indirect result of Hurricane Dora passing just south of our islands,” Luke said. “It is truly devastating and my heart goes out to the residents of Maui and all those impacted.”

The proclamation discouraging travel will allow the state to “prioritize our scarce resources for Maui residents who desperately need assistance," she said. 

Under the proclamation, visitors to West Maui are encouraged to depart the island as soon and as safely as possible. 

Wednesday's announcement follows Tuesday’s initial emergency proclamation authorizing the activation of the National Guard and authorizing state general revenue funds to be used for relief. 

It has already been a devastating year for extreme weather

Denise Chow

It may be days or weeks before the full extent of damage from the wildfires in Hawaii is known, but the blazes add to what has already been a devastating year of weather and climate disasters.

A report released Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that there were more billion-dollar disasters in the first seven months of 2023 than in any year since 1980, when the agency began tracking these events .

Scientists at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information said there have been 15 extreme weather events so far this year that each caused at least $1 billion in damage. These included severe storms, tornado outbreaks, hail, one flooding event and one winter storm.

NOAA said these climate and weather disasters caused 113 direct and indirect fatalities and resulted in more than $39.7 billion in damage from January through July.

Hawaiian Airlines offers refunds because of wildfires

Hawaiian Airlines tweeted early Wednesday that it will allow passengers to get refunds or change their travel dates because of ongoing wildfires. 

The airline cited the emergency order in Maui County and the fact that “non-essential travel is being strongly discouraged.”

“We have a travel waiver in place and will allow you to receive a refund or change travel to a future date without penalty," the airline said.

Kihei in Maui is ‘clear’ and residents can return, officials say

Kihei, a census-designated area, is “clear” and residents can return home, Maui County said in an update at 6 a.m. local time (12 p.m. ET). 

Officials also said residents on Ohukai Road can return home, adding the fire in that area is “not a threat.”

However, Lahaina officers were evacuating residents in Launiupoko Estates and Punakea Loop. 

2,000 sheltering at Kahului Airport

Travel in and out of Hawaii has been disrupted because of wildfires burning on several islands, prompting 2,000 travelers from canceled flights and arrivals to shelter at Kahului Airport in Maui County, the county said just before 5 a.m. local time Wednesday. 

So far Wednesday, there have been 27 delays at the airport and two cancellations, following 45 delays and six cancellations Tuesday, according to FlightAware.com . 

Almost 100 firefighters have been on duty, including 11 from state airport rescue personnel, the county said.

Maui County plagued by power outages

More than 14,000 power outages have been reported across Maui County, according to poweroutage.us , a site that collects and monitors live data from utilities across the United States.

Hawaiian Electric, the largest supplier of electricity in the state, said Tuesday that crews are working on extensive repairs to downed power lines in West Maui and Upcountry, and warned customers to be prepared for extended outages.

"With the sustained high wind weather, we are seeing additional impacts to our electrical infrastructure at the same time the crews are making repairs so we are asking customers to please prepare for possible extended outages into the night,” spokesperson Shayna Decker said in a statement Tuesday .

Fires in Hawaii unlike other U.S. wildfires

Associated Press

Fires in Hawaii are unlike many of  those burning in the U.S. West . They tend to break out in large grasslands on the dry sides of the islands and are generally much smaller than mainland fires.

Fires were rare in Hawaii  and on other tropical islands before humans arrived, and native ecosystems evolved without them. This means great environmental damage can occur when fires erupt. For example, fires remove vegetation. When a fire is followed by heavy rainfall, the rain can carry loose soil into the ocean, where it can smother coral reefs.

A  major fire in the Big Island in 2021  burned homes and forced thousands to evacuate.

The island of Oahu, where Honolulu is located, also was dealing with power outages, downed power lines and traffic problems, said Adam Weintraub, communication director for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

Hawaii under red flag warning

All the Hawaiian islands are under a red flag warning through 6 p.m. local time Wednesday. 

A red flag warning is an alert issued by the weather service when a combination of very low humidity, warm temperatures and strong winds are expected to combine to cause fires to spread rapidly. The warning serves as a signal to officials and fire managers to be on the lookout for potential wildfires in the area.

The warning is for leeward areas, meaning land that faces away from the wind usually sheltered by hills and mountains, due to strong winds and low humidity, the agency in Honolulu said in a morning advisory . 

“Very dry fuels combined with strong and gusty easterly winds and low humidities will produce critical fire weather conditions through the afternoon hours,” the advisory said. 

East winds of 20 to 35 mph with gusts from 40 to 50 mph are forecast, along with humidity levels at 40-45% through the afternoon.

“Any fires that develops will likely spread rapidly. Outdoor burning is not recommended,” the agency warned. 

Schools closed in Maui on Wednesday

Schools were shuttered Wednesday due to spreading brush fires and evacuations in Maui. 

Closures in West Maui: Princess Nahi‘ena‘ena Elementary, King Kamehameha III Elementary, Lahaina Intermediate, Lahainaluna High.

Closures in South Maui: Kihei Elementary, Lokelani Intermediate, Kamali‘i Elementary and Kūlanihāko‘i High.

In Upcountry Maui, King Kekaulike High was closed and in Central Maui, Maui High was being used as an evacuation shelter. 

Coast Guard rescues 12 Hawaii residents who fled into water

Twelve people were rescued overnight Tuesday by the Coast Guard after entering the ocean to escape blazes burning in West Maui, a Coast Guard spokesperson said.

All were in stable condition when recovered. 

“The Coast Guard has been responding to impacted areas where residents are entering the ocean due to smoke and fire conditions,” Maui County said in a  public notice . “Individuals were transported by the Coast Guard to safe areas.”

The U.S. Coast Guard tweeted that a dozen people were rescued near Lahaina by a 45-foot response boat from the Coast Guard’s Maui Station.

"The USCG continues the joint response with federal and state partners while the USCG Cutter Kimball is en route to Maui to enhance efforts," it said.

Wildfires continue to burn across Big Island and Maui on Wednesday.

Winds strengthened by hurricane helped fuel devastating fires

Strong winds driven by Dora, which has been churning over the central Pacific Ocean and moving west, helped whip up wildfires that spread quickly in Hawaii.

The weather service Tuesday warned that 45 mph winds and gusts up to 60 mph could create "high fire danger with rapid spread."

The winds strengthened by the hurricane exacerbated multiple fires in Maui and hampered efforts to put the blazes out, the Associated Press reported. Helicopter crews were unable to dump water on the fires to help contain the spread, and downed trees and power lines blocked some road access.

Dora was passing more than 500 miles south of Hawaii, and was not expected to make landfall on the island chain. The Category 4 storm is not thought to be directly responsible for the wildfires, but rather added to dry and windy conditions that heighten the risk of such blazes.

Hundreds evacuated, homes destroyed

In the Kula area of Maui, 80 people were evacuated from 40 homes, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said Tuesday .

He said at least two homes were destroyed in a fire that engulfed about 1,100 acres.

He noted that fierce winds were the biggest challenge in confronting the blazes, as the wind conditions are unsafe for helicopters to do water drops.

Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth said that about 400 homes in four communities in the northern part of the island were evacuated Tuesday. He said one roof had caught fire.

Where the blazes are

Two brush fires were burning Tuesday in the Big Island in North and South Kohala, Hawai’i County officials said. 

“A mandatory evacuation was called for in the Kohala Ranch area, and 2 residents have taken shelter at Hisaoka Gymnasium,” the county said in a public notice Tuesday.

Evacuation shelters were opened at Hisaoka Gym in Kapaʻau and the Waimea Community Center in Waimea, officials said.

Wildfires are also burning in Maui, with the biggest blaze believed to be in Lahaina .

An emergency proclamation was issued Tuesday by Lt. Gov Sylvia Luke, activating the Hawaii National Guard. 

Evacuations in Big Island and Maui

Evacuations are underway in Big Island and Maui amid wildfires that are raging across the area, fueled by winds associated with Dora . 

No fatalities reported in wildfire

Officials were not aware of any deaths and knew of only one injury, a firefighter who was in stable condition at a hospital after experiencing smoke inhalation, Maui County spokesperson Mahina Martin said in a phone interview early Wednesday.

There’s no count available for the number of structures affected by the fires or the number of people affected by evacuations, but she said there are four shelters open, with more than 1,000 people at the largest.

“This is so unprecedented,” she said, noting that multiple districts were affected. An emergency in the night is terrifying, she said, and the darkness makes it hard to gauge the extent of the damage.

Bus routes suspended because of fires

Several transportation services were disrupted Wednesday due to wildfires burning in Maui. 

The Lahaina Islander Route #20, Lahaina Villager Route #23, Kaanapali Islander Route #25, and West Maui Islander Route #28 were suspended until further notice, the county said in a public notice .

Maui Bus ADA Paratransit Service and MEO Human Service Transportation trips to and from and within West Maui were also suspended. 

“All Maui Bus Commuter Services will be suspended until further notice,” the county said.

911 service down in Maui’s west side

First responders faced a hurdle in grappling with wildfires burning in Maui as 911 service went down early Wednesday.

Maui County said on social media the service was unavailable in the island’s west side at 12 a.m. local time (6 a.m. ET).

Locals are urged to call the Lahaina Police Department directly in case of an emergency.

'Gone forever': Fire devastates historic Lahaina, former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom

D issipating smoke and ash revealed the sheer devastation that a wildfire left behind in Lahaina Town, one of Hawaii’s most historic cities and onetime capital of the former kingdom.

At least 36 people were killed and hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed in the blaze that erupted Tuesday and quickly spread throughout the western Maui community of fewer than 13,000 residents.

It’s feared that the fire consumed much of historic Front Street, home to restaurants, bars, stores and what is believed to be the United States' largest banyan — a fig tree with roots that grow out of branches and eventually reach the soil, becoming trunk-like features that expand the size of the tree. Other parts of Lahaina are also feared destroyed.

Richard Olsten, a helicopter pilot with tour operator Air Maui, said he and other pilots and mechanics flew over the scene Wednesday before work to take stock.

“All the places that are tourist areas , that are Hawaiian history, are gone, and that can’t be replaced. You can’t refurbish a building that’s just ashes now. It can’t be rebuilt — it’s gone forever,” he said.

“It’s a huge impact and blow on the history of Hawaii and Maui and Lahaina,” Olsten said.

For Francine Hollinger, a 66-year-old Native Hawaiian, the news was painful since Front Street represented history.

“It’s like losing a family member … because they’ll never be able to rebuild it, like we wouldn’t be able to bring back our mother or father," she said.

The full extent of loss won’t be known until officials can assess the damage done by the flames, which were fanned by winds caused in part by Hurricane Dora moving westward hundreds of miles to the south of the island state.

The Lahaina Historic District includes the downtown, Front Street and neighboring areas, and is home to more than 60 historic sites, according to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

A National Historic Landmark since 1962, it encompasses more than 16,000 acres and covers ocean waters stretching a mile offshore from the storied buildings.

One of them is the 200-year-old, two-story stone Wainee Church, later renamed Waiola, which has Hawaiian kings and queens buried in its graveyard. Its hall, which can seat up to 200 people, was photographed apparently engulfed in flames this week.

After Kamehameha unified Hawaii under a single kingdom by defeating the other islands' chiefs, he made Lahaina his royal residence. His successors made it the capital from 1820 to 1845, according to the National Park Service.

“It was really the political center for Hawaii,” said Davianna McGregor, a retired professor of ethnic studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Lahainaluna High School was where royalty and chiefs were educated, and also where King Kamehameha III and his Council of Chiefs drafted the first Declaration of Rights of the People and the Constitution for the Hawaiian Kingdom.

“So in that transition, from going from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, the ruling chiefs in and around Lahaina and those educated at Lahainaluna played very prominent roles in our governance at that time,” McGregor said.

The capital was moved to Honolulu in 1845, but Lahaina’s palace remained a place where royalty would visit.

Lahaina also has a rich history of whaling, with more than 400 ships a year visiting for weeks at a time in the 1850s. Crew members sometimes clashed with missionaries on the island.

Sugar plantations and fishing boosted the economy over the decades, but tourism is the main driver now. Nearly 3 million visitors came to Maui last year, and many of them come to the historic city.

The fire is “just going to change everything,” said Lee Imada, who worked at the Maui News for 39 years, including the last eight as managing editor, until his retirement in 2020. “It’s just hard to register, even right now, what the full impact of this is going to be.”

Imada lives in Waikapu, on Maui, but has ancestral ties to Lahaina going back generations. His mother’s family owned a chain of popular general stores, and his great-uncles ran the location on Front Street until it closed around 60 years ago.

“If you went there, you could still see the name etched in the cement,” Imada said.

He recalled walking down Front Street among the tourists as they shopped or ate, looking at the banyan tree, and enjoying the beautiful ocean views from the harbor.

“It’s just sort of hard to believe that it’s not there,” Imada said. “Everything that I remember the place to be is not there anymore.”

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .

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'There's nothing left': Devastating aerial images capture aftermath of Maui wildfires that incinerated island's historic town of Lahaina and killed at least 36 Hawaiians - with HUNDREDS still missing

• The town of Lahaina on Maui was entirely razed by the wildfire that started on Tuesday and spread quickly 
• President Biden has declared a major disaster in the state to assist the governor with the recovery effort  

By Jen Smith, Chief Reporter and Associated Press

Published: 15:13 EDT, 10 August 2023 | Updated: 19:47 EDT, 10 August 2023

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Horrifying images taken at daybreak today show the extent of the damage in Lahaina, the Maui town that was entirely torched by a merciless wildfire on Tuesday. 

Thirty-six people were killed, dozens injured and hundreds remain missing as a result of the fire that remains a mystery to many residents. 

Local officials still do not know the precise origin of the fire. It spread quickly and ferociously because it was fanned by strong winds from the passing Hurricane Dora. 

Those gusts coupled with dry conditions on Maui and low humidity spelled disaster for residents, many of whom escaped with seconds to spare. 

As they begin to assess the damage, many are still looking for their loved ones after two days of terror. 

'We woke up and got on our phones to see pictures of our house down to slab. Nothing but smoke and cinders,' one shell-shocked local said. 

A man walks through the smoldering ruins of Lahaina on Wednesday 

Burnt out cars are seen after the fires ravaged parts of Maui

A man is seen on Thursday filming the devastation in Lahaina

Smoke from the fires rises above Lahaina on Thursday

The debris of an ocean-front home is pictured on Wednesday

Views from the air of the community of Lahaina on Thursday

An aerial view shows destroyed homes and buildings that burned to the ground around the harbor and Front Street in the historic Lahaina Town in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui, Hawaii, on August 10, 2023

Local officials still do not know the precise origin of the fire. It spread quickly and ferociously because it was fanned by strong winds from the passing Hurricane Dora

As locals begin to assess the damage, many are still looking for their loved ones after two days of terror

Officials said earlier Wednesday that 271 structures had been damaged or destroyed and that dozens of people had been injured.

'We are still in life preservation mode. Search and rescue is still a primary concern,' Adam Weintraub, a spokesperson for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said Thursday.

He said search and rescue teams still won't be able to access certain areas until the fire lines are secure and they're sure they can get to those areas safely.

'What we have here is a natural disaster,' Weintraub said. 'There may have been questions that need to be examined about whether it was handled in the right way. 

'But we still got people in danger. We still have people who don' have homes. We still have people who can't find their loved ones.' 

There are hundreds still missing from Lahaina, which saw the worst of the fires. 

Frantic relatives are sharing a Google document to update one another on their loved ones' whereabouts. 

President Biden has declared a major disaster in the state of Hawaii to free up emergency funding for local officials. 

The search of the wreckage on Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years

An aerial view of Lahaina after wildfires burned through the town on the Hawaiian island of Maui, on August 10, 2023. At least 36 people have died after a fast-moving wildfire turned Lahaina to ashes, officials said August 9

An aerial view shows the historic banyan tree along with destroyed homes, boats, and buildings burned to the ground in the historic Lahaina town in the aftermath of wildfires in western Maui, Hawaii, on August 10, 2023

Where houses once stood is now ash and cinder. Thousands have lost their homes and hundreds are missing 48 hours after the fires

The burnt wreckage of a boat is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii

Shell-shocked residents of Maui survey the damage from a wildfire that claimed 36 lives on Tuesday night 

Family members have been urged to contact the Red Cross as well as local hospitals in a bid to locate their relatives, after communication lines have been severed due to the level of destruction by the fire.

State officials are working with hotels and airlines to try to evacuate thousands of tourists to another island.

The Hawaii Department of Transportation confirmed that Maui's Kahului Airport is open, with thousands stranded there trying to escape the island.

As fires closed in all the way up to the shoreline, frantic locals jumped into the water in the harbor to escape the flames on Tuesday night. Twelve people were rescued from the waves by boats. 

Distraught residents of Lahaina woke up to photos and videos of their homes entirely destroyed. 

One escaped with his wife, children and dog and slept in a Whole Foods parking lot before waking to the news that their home had been destroyed. 

'We got to this side of the island midnight last night, with my wife and dog, we slept in a parking lot at Whole Foods. We woke up and got on our phones to pictures of our house down to slab. Nothing but smoke and cinders. We have the clothes we got on, a dog and two kids. And here we are,' he told NBC News. 

Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years

Maui's part-time residents include Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos, Steven Tyler, Owen Wilson and more. Larry Ellison owns almost the entire island of Lanai, which sits near to the town of Lahaina. Fleetwood Mac's Mick has encouraged fundraising efforts and is himself suffering the loss of his restaurant. There has been silence from the others as thousands of locals try to put the pieces of their lives and homes back together 

After hearing reports her home was destroyed along with her pets, Steff Baku-Kirkman is distraught

People gather while waiting for flights at Kahului Airport Wednesday. Several thousand residents raced to escape their homes on Maui as fires swept across the island

One local told reporters on Wednesday: 'We've still got dead bodies floating on the seawall. 

'They've been sitting there since last night. We've been pulling people out since last night, trying to save peoples' lives.' 

As residents woke to another day of destruction, many were wondering where the island's richest landowners are - and what they're prepared to do to help. 

Oprah , Jeff Bezos , Larry Ellison, Clint Eastwood and Steven Tyler are among big names with homes on Maui but none have commented yet on how they intend to help those in need. 

Bezos' fiancée Lauren Sanchez posted on Instagram that the fires were 'breaking her heart', but he is yet to offer a statement. 

With a net worth of $162billion, he is the third richest man in the world. Bezos owns a $78million property on Maui's southwest shore. 

A source close to the couple tells DailyMail.com they are 'devastated' by the disaster. 

'They have been on the phone with locals and local officials since yesterday. They will be making donations to help the community,' they said. 

Oprah, worth $2.5billion, owns nearly 2,000 acres of land on Maui and has been living there part-time for 15 years. It's unclear if any of her land was damaged. 

She bought up the most recent parcel - 860 acres - in March this year for $6.6million. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler also has a home on the island as does Owen Wilson and Clint Eastwood. 

Share or comment on this article: Lahaina fire aftermath: Aerial photos show extent of the damage caused by catastrophic fire - but officials STILL don't know what started the blaze

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Death toll from Hawaii wildfires increases to 55 as search for survivors continues

Officials warned death toll could rise after state’s ‘largest ever natural disaster’ left dozens of people injured

The ferocious wildfires that ravaged the Hawaiian island of Maui have killed at least 55 people, officials said Thursday, warning that the death toll will likely continue to rise.

The catastrophic fires, which turned neighborhoods into barren wastelands and destroyed more than a thousand structures, are likely the state’s largest ever natural disaster, the governor said. Deaths are expected to surpass that of a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people.

“We don’t know how many people we have dead,” John Pelletier, the Maui police chief, said at press conference on Thursday evening. “When this is all said and done, we just don’t know.”

The disaster began on Tuesday night when three blazes broke out on Maui, cutting off the western side of the island. The flames moved so rapidly, some survivors escaped by jumping into the ocean and had to be rescued by the coast guard. At least 30 people were injured, suffering burns and smoke inhalation, and thousands have been displaced.

Crews have continued mass evacuation efforts and desperate searches for survivors as displaced residents try to come to terms with what appears to be widespread destruction, particularly in the the historic community of Lahaina, which was almost completely destroyed.

Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, described the fires as “likely the largest natural disaster” in state history. “What we’ve seen has been catastrophic,” he said.

“The full extent of the destruction of Lahaina will shock you. It does appear that a bomb went off,” he said. Recovery will take years and billions of dollars, but the town will rebuild, he said.

The US president, Joe Biden, on Thursday approved a disaster declaration for Maui, which will allow federal aid be used to help local recovery efforts for areas affected by the wildfires. He pledged that the federal response will ensure “anyone who’s lost a loved one, or who’s home has been damaged or destroyed, is going to get help immediately”.

Fire engulfed Lahaina, a town of 13,000 residents on Tuesday night when strong winds propelled a blaze that had started in vegetation to the urban center.

Marlon Vasquez, a 31-year-old cook from Guatemala who came to the US in January 2022, said that when he heard the fire alarms, it was already too late to flee in his car.

“I opened the door and the fire was almost on top of us,” he said on Thursday from an evacuation center. “We ran and ran. We ran almost the whole night and into the next day, because the fire didn’t stop.”

Lahaina residents Kawaakoa and Iiulia Yasso told the AP about a harrowing escape under smoke-filled skies. The couple and their six-year-old son got back to their apartment after a quick dash to the supermarket for water, and only had time to grab a change of clothes and run as the bushes around them caught fire. As they drove away, downed utility poles and others fleeing in cars slowed their progress.

“It was so hard to sit there and just watch my town burn to ashes and not be able to do anything,” Kawaakoa said.

By Wednesday, it had become clear that significant parts of Lahaina , once the capital of the Hawaiian royal kingdom, had been destroyed. The fire, the deadliest in the US in five years, appears to have consumed most of the town’s historic waterfront, including 271 structures and homes, leaving a wasteland in its wake. It charred what is described as the largest banyan in the US. Aerial video showed businesses destroyed on Front Street, a popular tourist destination.

“It was like a war zone,” Alan Barrios, a Lahaina resident, told Honolulu Civil Beat . “There was explosions left and right.”

South-east of Lahaina, flames continued to chew through trees and buildings in coastal Kihei on Wednesday night, leaving wide swaths of ground glowing red with embers. Gusty winds blew sparks over a black and orange patchwork of charred earth and still-crackling hot spots.

On Thursday, three fires remained active on the island, in Lahaina, Pulehu and Upcountry. The Lahaina fire was 80% contained. County officials said firefighters have been facing “multiple flare-ups” and additional firefighters were requested from Honolulu.

Search and rescue efforts are a priority, said Adam Weintraub, a spokesperson for the Hawaii emergency management agency. But teams will not be able to access certain areas until the fire lines are secure and they can get to those areas safely, he added.

“We are still in life preservation mode. Search and rescue is still a primary concern,” Weintraub said.

Cadaver dogs from California and Washington will assist in efforts to recover remains. Pelletier, the police chief, asked for patience from residents wishing to return.

“We’ve got loved ones in that earth,” he said, calling Lahaina “sacred ground”. We have to get them out. We will get them out as fast as we can.”

Officials were working to evacuate residents and tourists stranded in Kaanapali, just north of Lahaina.

Officials were preparing a convention center in Honolulu to accommodate up to 4,000 people displaced by the wildfires. Kahului airport in Maui was also sheltering 2,000 travelers who recently arrived on the island or whose flights were canceled.

Thousands of people will need housing, Green said, and officials intend to seek hotel rooms for fire survivors. He also urged residents across the state to open their homes to take in the displaced.

Assessing the full extent of the damage could take weeks or months, officials said. But the devastation is already being compared to the 2018 Camp fire in California that killed at least 85 people; destroyed nearly 19,000 homes, businesses and other buildings; and virtually razed the town of Paradise.

“These fires are absolutely devastating, and we will not know the full extent of the damage for a while. In the meantime, the highest priority is the safety of the people,” said Brian Schatz, the US senator for Hawaii, in a statement.

Biden said he had “ordered all available federal assets on the islands to help with response”. He expressed his condolences and said that his and his wife Jill’s “prayers are with those who have seen their homes, businesses, and communities destroyed”.

Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, who cut short personal travel plans to return to his state, spent the day touring wreckage in Maui, which he said was “the deadliest natural disaster the state has seen in generations”.

He pledged “to spare no resources to combat the destructive wildfires, shelter the displaced, treat and bring comfort to the traumatized, support our first responders, restore communication lines and enlist the aid of our federal and county partners to confront this this once-in-a-lifetime catastrophe”.

A flight over historic Lahaina showed vibrant neighborhoods reduced to gray ash. Block after block was nothing but rubble and blackened foundations, including along famous Front Street, where tourists shopped and dined just days ago. Boats in the harbor were scorched and smoke hovered over the town, which dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side.

Baldwin Home , built in 1834-35 and the oldest house on Maui, was among the structures that burned down, a museum official said.

James Tokioka, the director of the department of business, economic development and tourism, said: “Local people have lost everything … They’ve lost their house, they’ve lost their animals.”

Hurricane Dora complicated matters for firefighters in an already dry season. Hawaii, which is currently facing drought conditions , is sandwiched between high pressure to the north and a low pressure system associated with Dora, said Jeff Powell, a meteorologist in Honolulu, adding that dryness and gusts “make a dangerous fire situation so that fires that do exist can spread out of control very rapidly”.

The US National Weather Service (NWS) said Dora was partly to blame for wind gusts above 60mph (96km/h) on Tuesday night, when the fire spread. The winds knocked out power and forced firefighting helicopters to stay grounded.

The Maui county mayor, Richard Bissen Jr, said the island had “been tested like never before in our lifetime”.

“We are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time,” he said in a recorded statement . “In the days ahead, we will be stronger as a kaiaulu , or community, as we rebuild with resilience and aloha.”

The former US president Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii, said in a statement: “It’s tough to see some of the images coming out of Hawaii – a place that’s so special to so many of us. Michelle and I are thinking of everyone who has lost a loved one, or whose life has been turned upside down.”

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Maui community mobilizes to protect water quality from runoff after Lahaina fires

Lauren Sommer

Ryan Kellman

Concerns have been high in Lahaina that the devastating wildfire would also harm the ocean. Here, members of a community-led group head out to collect water samples. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

Debris from hundreds of buildings destroyed by wildfire in Lahaina, Maui still needs to be cleared. Piles of wreckage sit by the bright turquoise ocean, home to a coral reef where many residents swim, fish and surf.

The community is making a slow recovery from the August 2023 fire, which claimed more than 100 lives. And concerns have been high that the disaster could also damage another valued part of Lahaina: the ocean.

An urban fire of this magnitude has never been seen directly next to a sensitive marine ecosystem. A big question has been: is the water safe?

After the fires, a Maui community tries a novel approach to keep homes in local hands

"It's so hard to answer that," says Liz Yannell, program manager at Hui O Ka Wai Ola , a community-led group that measures water quality. "I'll get people that'll text me and say: my son wants to surf at this beach. Do you think that's safe tomorrow?"

Yannell's group is part of a coalition that mobilized in the wake of the fire to closely monitor the water quality off Lahaina. More than 2,000 buildings burned, including their appliances, plastics, car batteries and other potentially toxic materials. Those chemicals could runoff into the ocean, especially during heavy tropical rainstorms.

An urban fire of this magnitude has never been seen directly next to a sensitive marine ecosystem. A big question has been: is the water safe? Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

So far, the water contamination readings have been lower than expected, leading Hawaii's Department of Health to recently determine the water is safe for recreation. But scientists warn that the effects on a complex marine ecosystem like a coral reef will take years to figure out.

"There's so much that we don't see," says Andrea Kealoha, assistant professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "You don't really understand the impacts of anything in one year."

Christiane Keyhani (bottom left) and Liz Yannell (bottom right), of the non-profit group Hui O Ka Wai Ola, measure water quality along Lahaina's coast. The group is part of a coalition that mobilized in the wake of the fire to closely monitor the water quality off Lahaina. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

Sampling in the burn zone

Downtown Lahaina's waterfront was once the site of busy shops and residential homes. Every so often, the charred shell of a refrigerator is visible in the debris that remains, hinting at what once was there.

Among the blackened remnants of roofs and walls, there are mounds of silvery ash, even nine months later. After the fire, the Environmental Protection Agency sprayed a glue-like substance called Soiltac to stabilize the debris and prevent it from running off.

Many waterfront homes and buildings burned in the fire, not far from a sensitive coral reef where many residents swim, fish and surf. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

"Things are still in piles," says Christiane Keyhani, who works with Yannell at Hui O Ka Wai Ola. "So clearly it seems to have worked, the Soiltac. But if you step on it, it loses its effectiveness."

Every few weeks, a team from Hui O Ka Wai Ola, arrives in the burn zone to take water samples. Yannell and Keyhani put on masks and waders and head to where the waves are crashing. They collect water by dipping a long pole with a cup at the end into the ocean. The samples are then analyzed for the key indicators of water quality, like the pH, clarity, and oxygen levels.

"It's a clear day today in the ocean, but that doesn't mean there aren't concerns," Yannell says. "There were days, especially at the beginning, where it was so brown and turbid."

"This is looking better, which is a good thing," Keyhani says, holding a vial with one of the samples.

Christiane Keyhani checks water quality in downtown Lahaina. "It's still sad but I just love contributing in a positive way," she says. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

Even after the group's lab burned down in Lahaina, staff and volunteers mobilized as quickly as they could to keep up their sampling efforts, aided by a FEMA grant . Their results are supplemented by data from a broad coalition also doing water sampling, including the University of Hawaii at Manoa, the Surfrider Foundation and state and federal agencies.

"There's so much to figure out and it takes all of us coming together to answer all of these questions," Yannell says.

For Keyhani, whose family goes back generations in Lahaina, the work is also a way to support the community in the face of grief.

"I feel incredibly blessed and grateful to be able to sample here," Keyhani says. "It heals for sure. At least I get to be closer to it and have that exposure therapy to the area because it meant everything to me and my family for generations."

More than 2,000 buildings burned in the fire, including their appliances, plastics, car batteries and other potentially toxic materials. The ash has been shown to have lead and arsenic. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

So far, worst fears aren't playing out

Urban wildfires produce a broad array of contaminants, especially ones that burn at very high temperatures like in Lahaina. Heavy metals are present in urban infrastructure and in December, officials in Hawaii found Lahiana's ash contained lead and arsenic . The burning process also creates a broad range of "organic compounds'' - only some of which are well understood. One group, known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), are known to be carcinogenic.

So far, water sampling shows higher levels of copper were found at the boat harbor, especially right after the fire. Copper is used in boat paint to prevent marine life from attaching and many boats burned during Lahaina's fire. Still, most contaminants have been lower than the guidelines set for human health , including PAHs.

"There is a sense of relief," Yannell says. "There's still more to figure out, but it's comforting in a way."

Hawaii's Department of Health recently determined that the water is safe for recreation. But scientists warn that the effects on a complex marine ecosystem like a coral reef will take years to figure out. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

For the coral reef, the impacts are less well understood. Corals are highly sensitive animals, affected by cloudy water, pollution from fertilizers and wastewater, and too much sediment running off the land. Kealoha and others at the University of Hawaii have been monitoring the health of the reef off Lahaina post-fire.

"We also see high concentrations of things like zinc," Kealoha says. "And we don't really know what the impacts of zinc are to corals."

The water samples taken by Yannell and Keyhani are analyzed for the key indicators of water quality, like the pH, clarity, and oxygen levels. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

Another research team at the University of Hawaii at Manoa is testing for more than 100 organic contaminants, since little is understood about how they could affect marine life at all levels, from tiny microbes to large fish.

"We don't know what's going to be a problem," says Craig Nelson, professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "So even if they're not on a list as having a threshold of being toxic to human health, it's still good for us to be able to track them and see how they're changing through time."

Other studies are underway to determine if toxins are accumulating in the fish people eat. Once the contaminants enter the food chain, they become concentrated over time as larger organisms eat smaller ones.

Keyhani (left) and Yanell (right) emerge from a short water collecting wade. "It's a clear day today in the ocean, but that doesn't mean there aren't concerns," says Yannell. "There were days, especially at the beginning, where it was so brown and turbid." Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

As the ash and debris in Lahaina are removed and the rebuilding process begins, runoff could still be a concern for the ocean. Researchers caution that it could take some time to determine how the coral reef may have been affected, since the effects may be hard to see. Just as the community of Lahaina is experiencing, the true impacts of the fire will take years to understand.

"This is going to be a really long process," says Sean Swift, a Phd student working on water testing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, who also grew up on Maui. "Beaches are where people bring their babies and their kids and the reefs where people go fishing. And as soon as those things are threatened, I think you have a very strong emotional response."

A beachgoer returns inland after watching the sunset. In Hawaii, many have a deep connection to the ocean through their livelihoods or daily lives. Ryan Kellman/NPR hide caption

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Event Details

Efforts underway to remove a dinner cruise yacht ran aground off Maui coast

Efforts to defuel a luxury tour yacht that ran aground in shallow waters off Lahaina, Hawaii , last week are underway. 

The Maui Princess, a 100-foot passenger vessel widely popular for its sunset dinner cruises around Maui, broke free from its mooring farther offshore on Thursday after “a part reportedly failed,” according to a news release by the Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). The ship drifted closer to shore and ended up stuck on “a shallow shelf of sand and rubble.”

The incident did not cause any injuries. 

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Maui Princess owner David Jung hired Willoughby Consulting and Adjusting to lead the defueling effort. The company started removing the ship’s 2,500 gallons of fuel, batteries, hazardous materials and other items on Monday afternoon. 

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The release said the process is expected to take several days and involve up to 10 helicopter trips to remove the majority of the fuel. 

“This is pretty calm compared to the stuff I’ve done in the past,” David Willoughby from Willoughby Consulting and Adjusting said in a transcription from Monday.

Jung did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment but told local media outlet KITV 4 Island News on Friday that the grounding was an accident. 

Since the Maui wildfires destroyed Lahaina Harbor last August, the boat has paused all commercial operations and struggled to find a location to be permanently docked. 

The DLNR Division of Aquatic Resources is “providing expertise and guidance for the removal operation to minimize any additional impacts to important hard substrate and living corals in the area.” Aquatic biologists have been unable to assess possible damage to marine life due to high surf along the West Maui coastline.

After the defueling, a salvage contractor will move the boat into deeper water during high tide. 

Last February, a different private luxury yacht ran aground off the northern coast of Maui. The vessel leaked fuel into the ocean and damaged coral and live rocks.  

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at [email protected] .