OLOWALU — A critically needed fire station in West Maui is facing extra costs of more than $240,000 due to tariffs in the mounting trade war launched by President Donald Trump between the United States and Canada.

Now, the nonprofit behind the project worries costs could grow even higher as the tariffs escalate between the two former trade partners.

The $3 million Olowalu Fire Station was fully funded until the Canadian company supplying the modular building for the project was hit with 50% steel tariffs by the U.S. last year. The hope that the tariffs would be lowered this summer were dashed as talks between the United States and Canada collapsed a few days ago.

“It’s so frustrating that it’s gotten to a point for me personally that I have stopped watching the news that happened outside of Hawai‘i,” said Rick Nava, vice president of the West Maui Improvement Foundation that is spearheading the project.

The long-awaited fire station is being built on a vacant windswept lot in an area prone to brush fires. The planned 2,056-square-foot modular building will be capable of housing up to five firefighters, with four bedrooms, a kitchen, living space, gear storage and a fire engine bay, according to project documents.

In September, three months after the U.S. imposed tariffs on foreign steel, Extreme Modular Buildings, the Alberta, Canada-based company supplying the parts for the station, informed the foundation that the new steel tariffs would increase costs by $314,136.

All told, with other adjustments, the final cost for the Canadian company’s services would rise from $2.2 million to just over $2.4 million, an increase of $242,560, according to the change order provided to the Hawaiʻi Journalism Initiative.

“And it might be even higher now because of the current relationship with Canada and the United States,” Joe Pluta, president of the foundation, said Monday. 

This summer, the two neighboring countries have been negotiating trade agreements that reportedly would have reduced U.S. tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum from 50% to 25%. But talks fell apart, with each side blaming the other for wanting too much.

On Saturday, the United States imposed new 50% tariffs on an additional $20 billion in Canadian goods ranging from vegetable seeds to alcohol to home fixtures to sports accessories. On Tuesday, Canada retaliated with 50% tariffs on $20 billion in U.S. imports that include dairy, clothing, toilet paper and video game consoles.

“This trade war only hurts Americans at the end of the day,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, who represents the second Congressional district that includes Maui County, said Tuesday. “This means higher prices for basic goods and supplies that we rely on. It’s damaging important relationships with our northern neighbor.”

Nava, who is also the executive director of the West Maui Taxpayers Association, said, “I can’t even really think how bad we’re treating our neighbors. It’s crazy. It’s really insane.” 

But Pluta sees the tariffs as “a political tool” to help the U.S. get what it wants in trade deals with other countries, and he’s willing to accept the additional costs as temporary pain that he hopes will pan out in the long run.

When asked if he felt the tariffs were effective even if projects like the Olowalu Fire Station were being impacted, Pluta said, “projects like mine, in my opinion, should receive exemptions because of what the material’s being used for.”

He hopes to apply for relief from the tariffs and believes the fire station will make a good case because it is a public safety project by a nonprofit.

“I can’t think of anybody more qualified than us for what we’re doing,” he said. “It’s necessary for the health and safety of our people.”

But Tokuda said the tariff exemptions are based on the makeup of the products themselves, not on what they’re being used for, even if it’s a good cause like the fire station. She said her office is looking into whether there could be an exemption for the project.

“Everything about this was a win-win,” Tokuda said of the community-funded fire station. “And what Trump has done by … creating a retaliatory trade war environment with Canada is hurting critical projects like this.”

The mission behind the fire station is personal. Both Nava and Pluta are survivors of the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires that killed at least 102 people and destroyed most of Lahaina town. Nava’s family lost their main home in Kelawea Mauka II and are currently living in their rental unit behind Lahainaluna Road while they wait to rebuild. Pluta lost his Wahikuli home and ended up selling the property because he saw the struggle others had to go through to rebuild. 

Hurricane Lala’s approach towards the islands earlier this month put them both on edge, reminding them of the conditions during the wildfire three years earlier when Hurricane Dora passed south of the islands, kicking up winds that whipped the fire across town.  

“It was like an exact duplication of what happened to us when we lost Lahaina,” Pluta said.

The foundation drove the community effort to fund and build the Nāpili Fire Station in the 1990s, and it has been pushing for the Olowalu Fire Station since August 2018, when a wildfire destroyed more than two dozen homes and displaced Kaua‘ula Valley families. 

The Maui Fire Department chose the location just off of Luawai Street because it sits squarely between the Lahaina and Wailuku fire stations, which are each about 9 miles away in either direction. Pluta said there are about 750 homes within a 5-mile radius of the site, and their insurance is expected to drop significantly with a fire station nearby. 

Pluta said the foundation ran into an additional $40,000 in costs because they later learned the project would require two ADA bathrooms instead of one. The plans were redrawn and are currently awaiting approval by the Hawai‘i Department of Health, which will then allow the project to seek a building permit from Maui County.

Currently, the site is graded and water lines have been installed, but work has been on hold for three weeks while the fire station awaits inspection of the infrastructure, Pluta said. Once that’s done, the parking lot can move forward and then the modular station will be delivered and assembled.

Pluta said the foundation won’t have to make the final payment on the modular building until they get an invoice from the Canadian company, so he’s still holding out hope they can avoid the higher costs by then. Already, the foundation has paid its contractor, West Maui Construction, about $800,000 for the job.

The fire station was expected to finish construction this year but now may be completed in the first quarter of next year.

The Maui Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Bureau said Tuesday that a meeting on the fire station had been scheduled earlier this month but was postponed “due to the approaching inclement weather.” They planned to meet on Friday “to iron out some permitting issues that need to be taken care of before inspections can take place.”

“There are multiple departments involved in some types of inspections, so a certain level of coordination is required,” MFD spokesperson Chris Stankis explained. “We need to be fair and not let our own project jump the line ahead of them, even as important as it is.”

MFD’s 10 on-island fire stations were stretched thin by three separate fires in Lahaina, Kula and Pūlehu on August 2023. The department has made multiple changes since then that have included adding 29 new firefighting positions, investing in new equipment and updating the fire code to require wider buffers between brush and structures. 

But more fire stations are also needed “to increase safety to our community and our firefighters,” Fire Chief Brad Ventura said. Another is being planned in Ha‘ikū, and on Tuesday, a Maui County Council committee advanced three bills that would help clear the way for construction of the station.

“Adding fire stations strategically around our island would enhance our response capability and save more lives,” Ventura said in a statement on Tuesday.

Once the Olowalu Fire Station is built, it will be turned over to Maui County. Mayor Richard Bissen said Tuesday that the county is “deeply grateful” to the foundation for moving the project forward.

“West Maui residents have advocated for a fire station in Olowalu for years, and this project represents an important step forward in strengthening fire protection and keeping our communities safe,” he said in a statement. “A station in Olowalu will improve emergency response for the area while adding critical firefighting resources that can support communities throughout West Maui when emergencies occur.”