Fully funded Olowalu fire station on hold over ‘iwi kupuna discovered 2 years ago in subdivision

A planned new fire station in West Maui was going nowhere for years until the deadly and destructive August 2023 wildfire highlighted the need for the facility just south of Lahaina.

The tragedy, in which at least 102 people died, jumpstarted the public-private project, with monetary donations pouring in and Maui County expediting permits.

Now, the $3 million station is fully funded and ready to build, but there is one holdup, according to Joe Pluta, the president of the West Maui Improvement Foundation that is spearheading the project.

A decision needs to be made about how to appropriately handle the ‘iwi kupuna, or ancestral bones, that were found two years ago in the Olowalu Mauka Subdivision that the land parcel for the new station is located within.

The property is behind the Olowalu General Store and Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop, and adjacent to Luawai Street. Developer Peter Martin, who moved to Maui in the 1970s to teach public school but evolved into a major landowner in Launiupoko and Olowalu, donated a 5-acre parcel of the subdivision for the station.

Pluta said that 90% of the donations for the station have poured in since the 2023 wildfire. This includes $1 million from the Vanguard Charitable Foundation on behalf of Susan and Michael Dell, $1.25 million from The Benioff Family Foundation and $250,000 from the Arrillaga Family Foundation.

“Everything is proceeding now to the point where we need just to get clearance to prepare the site where the fire station will be located and start the process going,” Pluta said Tuesday.

To put up a fire station fast and inexpensively, the foundation has opted to go with a modular building from Canada. Once the last hurdle is cleared, the building can be shipped in four months from Extreme Modular Buildings based in Lethbridge, Alberta. Once on Maui, it can be put together in two months, meaning the fire station could be ready by the end of the year, Pluta said.

“Our architect, Marty Cooper, and our land-planning consultants, Munekiyo-Hiraga, have been working together to get everything that’s necessary for us to get the permitting process and procedure to locate on land that was donated to us generously by Peter Martin,” Pluta said. “We’ve got the deposit paid for the station we’re waiting for. They’ve finally got our plans for electrical, plumbing, mechanical and everything.”

But the current problem is not a new one. On April 27, 2023, nearly four months before the fire, Maui County officials issued a “stop work order” at the Olowalu Mauka Subdivision due to the discovery of ‘iwi kupuna in the area, the State Historic Preservation Division told the Hawai‘i Journalism Initiative in an email earlier this week.

SHPD officials said the county had issued the grading permit prior to approval from the state, and during the grading work, ‘iwi kupuna were found. But the grading was not done on the five acres donated for the fire station.

Since the stop work order, the historic preservation division has been working with Maui County and the West Maui Improvement Foundation officials to address how to handle the ancestral bones.

“Maui County is complying with the rules and process and SHPD is working with the county to move forward,” SHPD said Thursday.

When ‘iwi kupuna are inadvertently discovered, work must stop within the area, but “work could potentially be allowed to continue in other areas,” said spokesperson Ryan Aguilar with the Department of Land and Natural Resources, which oversees the historic preservation division.

DLNR spokesperson Dan Dennison said Thursday that SHPD had received an archaeology inventory survey and monitoring plan last month and that both were under review.

“Once they are approved, SHPD’s review will be done, pending changes to the scope of work or another inadvertent discovery,” Dennison said.

Keeaumoku Kapu, a leader for Nā ‘Aikāne o Maui Community Foundation and a burial expert, said the issue of finding ‘iwi kupuna can be culturally sensitive.

“I’m 100% in support of putting a fire station over there,” Kapu said. “It’s just sometimes when things occur, especially when they impact human burials … that’s a great impact because Lahaina is known for that, especially … from Olowalu all the way to the corridor of Lahaina.

“We’ve been having a lot of issues pertaining to a lot of construction hits on burials. And it’s been pretty tenacious when it comes to the … way those burials should be treated.”

Pluta and Rick Nava, the West Maui Improvement Foundation vice president, started advocating for the Olowalu station after the 2018 Lahaina fire destroyed 21 houses in Kaua‘ula Valley. The 2018 fire also caused significant damage to other structures, including 27 cars and 30 utility poles. Additionally, the fire burned over 2,000 acres of land and caused more than $4 million in damage.

Maui Fire Department Chief Brad Ventura said the Olowalu station will be another key piece in keeping the community safe. When the station is complete, it will be transferred to the County of Maui, Pluta said Saturday.

The new station is being built with five beds to accommodate five firefighters at a time, but it will initially be staffed with only two firefighters and a brush truck, according to Maui County. The $400,000 brush truck for the station is being paid for with donations that already have been raised.

The Olowalu station, which is within a mile of Honoapiʻilani Highway along a coastal stretch near Mile Marker 14.5, also will have ocean safety capabilities. All firefighters on Maui are trained to do ocean rescues.

“The Olowalu Fire Station is going to make a direct impact on the needs of our department and community in a big way,” Ventura said. “The more firefighters and the more stations we have, the safer our community is going to be and the safer our first responders are going to be.”

Maui County Council Member Tamara Paltin, who holds the West Maui residency seat, cautioned that the new station does not quell all the dangers of wildfire.

“It would be great to have another fire station,” Paltin said Thursday. “I wouldn’t want it to create any false sense of security. I think it’s set up to be a possible two- or three-person station. So, if there’s anything really big, they would need additional help for sure.

“But as far as first responding and being first on site and the possibility of containing a brush fire or helping someone that needs first-responder assistance, it could potentially be a game changer.”

Pluta and the West Maui Improvement Foundation also were instrumental in getting the Nāpili Fire Station built in 1996. The foundation raised around $4 million for that station, which was gifted to the county. At that time, Pluta, the late Maui architect Uwe Schulz and certified public accountant Ron Kawahara all took out second mortgages on their homes to get funding for a construction loan.

Pluta’s efforts to secure the Nāpili Fire Station for the area were a major step in improving fire safety and response time for West Maui. The Olowalu station will add to that ability.

Ventura pointed to the private-public venture in Olowalu as a way to fast track a new station, in comparison to the planned Haʻikū Fire Station. The site for the Ha‘ikū station was acquired in 2008, but the station is not slated to be ready before 2028. 

A combination of factors has led to the 20-year process to build the station, including community opposition, delays in permitting and approval processes, and changes in regulatory and construction environments.

Adequate stations to serve Maui has always been a high priority for Ventura, but he said the Lahaina wildfire has made it even more critical.

”One of the big recommendations that’s probably the most important is new fire stations,” Ventura said. “And so that’s why we’re pushing these projects as hard as we can. As much time as we can put into it, we are.”

While Nava perused the site for the Olowalu modular fire station on Thursday, he said the building also could be reused as the starting point for more fire stations in the future.

The long-term plan in Olowalu, he said, is for a larger, permanent fire station.

“Once we do the brick-and-mortar thing … what would be cool would be to move that (modular building) to Lahainaluna Road,” Nava said. “This is still quite a distance away. All the housing is in that area. … All this could be moved in Haʻikū or anywhere.”

Ventura also has a third new station, in Central Maui, on his mind because “Wailuku is our busiest district and that community towards Maui Lani is growing rapidly.”

He wants to create a triangle of fire stations in the central valley.

“We can bifurcate Kahului and Wailuku district with that third fire station to make our response better and faster to the community,” he said.

Ventura emphasized that the county has several locations in mind for the new Central Maui fire station, but it is several years away from fruition.

“We have areas that we would be interested in that make sense to the overall response of fire service to the community,” Ventura said. “We wouldn’t want one on Dairy Road, right? We wouldn’t want one at the mill, too close to the (Kahului) station. But, the area of Waiko, Maui Lani, Waikapū, that creates a nice triangle here in the central valley.”

But first, the Olowalu Fire Station is a priority to complete.

“Before the year end, we could literally have that fire station open and saving lives,” Pluta said. “It’s a miracle. It’s literally another miracle in process.”