Kilohana temporary housing site takes shape for displaced Lahaina residents

With the roar of heavy machinery nearby, US Army Corps of Engineers officials showed Wednesday how progress is rapidly underway in transforming the once gently sloping grassland above Lahaina into a graded expanse needed to install 169 temporary modular homes for wildfire survivors.

Blasting of blue rock and work on roads, electric utilities, sewer and waterlines are expected to be completed Oct. 28 on 34 acres mauka of a cane haul road near Wahikuli Road, officials said. Work began with 65 days of blasting, starting in May. The US Army Corps’ work is paving the way for installation of modular homes. The work is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state of Hawai‘i.

FEMA is working on the selection of vendors to manufacture and deliver units, in compliance with Maui County building standards, from factories located from California to Ohio, officials said. This is the first time modular homes have been used as temporary housing in a FEMA disaster response.

“These 169 units are not going to solve the larger housing issues on the island of Maui,” said Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon of the US Army Corps. “This is to take care of families who are having difficulty finding other housing options because of pets or because of access needs. So this is to help take a chunk out of just a part of that problem.”

In April, FEMA and the General Services Administration announced a land lease with the Hawaiʻi Housing, Finance and Development Corp. to develop the Kilohana group housing site. Meanwhile, FEMA has been providing housing assistance to wildfire survivors through direct lease and rental assistance programs.

“Transforming former agricultural lands into a housing community is no small task,” said Col. Eric Swenson, Maui Wildfires Recovery Field Office commander with the US Army Corps. “But our team is overcoming these challenges with determination and skill. We are focused on delivering high-quality, safe housing for Lahaina survivors.”

The Corps’ work on the Kilohana temporary housing project is on top of managing the ongoing removal of an estimated 400,000 cubic yards of fire debris from Lahaina and construction of a temporary King Kamehameha III Elementary School site at Pulelehua, completed in 95 days.

Swenson acknowledged that work at the temporary housing site is subject to outside forces beyond anyone’s control.

“As the Corps of Engineers and others have learned on large-scale construction projects over the last couple of years since COVID, we are at the mercy of supply chains, and we’re all competing for the same resources from the same factories, many of which are in the lower 48 states,” he said. “So, as the nation rebuilds after COVID, as the nation rebuilds after other disasters, and just building in general goes on in the nation, we’re all looking for those same resources.”

Finding skilled labor has not been easy, he said. “It’s harder because we’re insulated, and you can’t just drive over to the next state with work crews. You actually have to fly 2,500 miles from the West Coast… So that’s certainly been a challenge.”

Swenson said the Army Corps has hired many local contractors and workers for the mammoth job of debris removal at residential and commercial properties. The work is developing local talent trained to operate bobcats and other heavy equipment, and “we are, in some ways, jump starting that pool of workers here on the island that will be able to be really the driving force behind the construction for the next 20 years as Lahaina tries to rebuild to where it was in its previous glory before Aug. 8.”

Mayor Richard Bissen expressed gratitude for Maui County’s collaboration with the US Army Corps, FEMA and other agencies. “Together, we are making significant strides towards providing secure, temporary housing for our neighbors who’ve been affected by the wildfires,” he said.

Bissen added that: “Kilohana demonstrates the combined efforts of federal, state, county and private partners to transform care and compassion into 169 modular homes for individuals displaced by the fires. Not only is this land the future site for Kilohana — it helps lay the foundation for stability, recovery and hope for our Lahaina community.”

FEMA Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer Curtis Brown said FEMA’s mission is to help communities in their time of need.

“The Kilohana site is a critical part of our response to the Maui wildfires,” he said. “We are committed to ensuring that families here have safe and dignified housing as they rebuild their lives.”

Massive ongoing earth-moving could pose a problem with runoff if there were a large rainstorm, but Clayton Tallman, Temporary Housing Mission manager with the Army Corps, said that stormwater retention areas have been installed with best management practices. “Stormwater is not allowed to leave the site,” he said.

When asked about the availability of water for the project in Lahaina, Forrest Lanning, a professional engineer and FEMA Joint Housing Task Force lead, said the project has an agreement to receive water, temporarily, from Maui County.

Currently, West Maui has been designated as a surface and groundwater management area by the Commission on Water Resource Management. The state agency has legally assumed control of all water use and source development in West Maui.

After the temporary housing is no longer needed, all the temporary housing and other structures will be removed. However infrastructure that remains behind will be available for housing development by the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

For more information, visit www.mauirecovers.org.