FEMA housing assistance for Maui wildfire survivors extended 18 days while yearlong extension under review

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has extended its temporary housing and financial assistance to Maui wildfire survivors to Feb. 28, which is 18 more days than the previous deadline.

But FEMA said it still is reviewing the State of Hawai‘i’s request, which was submitted months ago on May 30, for a yearlong extension to Feb. 10, 2027.

Joe Campos, deputy director of the state Department of Human Services, said the extension is “crucial” as Maui continues to recover from the disaster that killed at least 102 people.

Campos said Dec. 29 that FEMA funding provided housing for 6,775 individuals immediately after the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires in Lahaina and Kula. Since then, about 5,300 have found their own housing. 

The original number of households in the FEMA Direct Housing program was between “3,300 to 4,000,” according to Campos, and is now down to 754 households for a total of about 1,475 individuals.

If FEMA does not grant the state’s extension request, all FEMA housing assistance for fire survivors would cease at the end of February. This means all FEMA Direct Housing units must be vacated without exception, including: direct lease units, the Kilohana temporary group housing site in Lahaina where 150 households are currently living in Lahaina, private site units and secondary site units.

It was less than a year ago when the 167-unit Kilohana project was completed.

A FEMA news release posted Wednesday announced the 18-day extension and said: “The program was initially approved for 18 months following the wildfire and was subsequently extended at the request of the State of Hawai‘i through February 28, 2026.”

The news release said FEMA will provide advance notice of the program’s end date as soon as possible.

To date, FEMA said it has provided more than $80 million in individual assistance to Maui residents affected by the wildfires, which includes over $50 million delivered for rental assistance funding.

A FEMA spokesperson told the Hawai‘i Journalism Initiative last month that “Direct Temporary Housing is intended to be a short-term solution to help survivors stabilize after a disaster. FEMA’s goal is to support survivors as they transition into permanent housing as quickly as possible.”

The Department of Human Services has said that it is working on possible solutions if the deadline is not extended for another year but has not disclosed what those measures might be.