County releases recovery update ahead of 2023 Maui Wildfires anniversary

Three years after the Maui Wildfire Disaster, Mayor Richard Bissen and his administration report a continued focus on housing recovery and business rebuilding efforts. The response remains a focal point as the community recovers from one of the most complex megafires in US history.

Jennifer Gray Thompson, megafire expert and nonprofit After the Fire USA CEO, said her fire-striken California town took five to six years to be 85% rebuilt, and Maui is at the halfway mark at three years.

“I’m from a disaster in 2017, and it took us about five, six years to be 85% rebuilt — and we’re not on an island,” she said. “And so you are at the halfway mark. But you are exactly where I… hoped that you would be at year three, but you’re actually even ahead because you built the foundation for the recovery.”

Thompson speaks in one of four County of Maui recovery update videos leading up to the three-year mark following four Maui wildfires that started on Aug. 8, 2023. The new four-part series highlights efforts to keep Lahaina families home in the first video, the vision for Lahaina and its commercial core in the second, how the County has strengthened emergency response in the third and a remembrance tribute in the fourth.

The final video will be released today at 3 p.m. on County of Maui YouTube and social media channels.

“Three years into recovery, we can see real, measurable progress across Lahaina, from families returning home and homes under construction to infrastructure restored and businesses moving through the rebuilding process,” County Office of Recovery Administrator John Smith said. “But we also know recovery is not measured by numbers alone. It is measured by whether our families can come home, whether our businesses can reopen and whether Lahaina can move forward in a way that reflects the vision and values of its community. There is still significant work ahead, and our focus remains on removing barriers, maintaining momentum and supporting our community through every stage of recovery.”

Also ahead of the three-year mark, County Office of Recovery updated its Recovery Projects dashboard (available at mauirecovers.org/recoveryprojects), a one-stop overview of all wildfire recovery projects led or supported by the County.

The new dashboard builds on the Lahaina Long-Term Recovery Plan by tracking implementation progress and showcasing the range of recovery, rebuilding and resilience initiatives taking place across the island. The information reflects a broad recovery landscape, highlighting recovery efforts and investments advanced through complementary initiatives, including the County’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Action Plan and the Maui Economic Recovery Commission.

Milestones as of Aug. 7, 2026, include:

• Nearly 600 homes have been rebuilt and occupied, and another 400 are under construction
• County has issued or is processing permits for about 1,264 more units
• Out of 21 Kula homes destroyed, five have been rebuilt and 11 additional building permits have been issued
• As of today, 2,248 of the 2,746 housing units lost — or 81.9% — are on a path to rebuild
• Final unsafe water advisory for Lahaina was lifted in August 2024
• Sewer service for Lahaina was fully restored as of April 2025
• All Lahaina roads were reopened as of Aug. 1
• 100% of wildfire debris removed from properties, the largest debris removal project in state history, completed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finished clearing wildfire debris from nearly 1,400 residential properties in September 2024 and from about 150 commercial properties in February 2025
• $1.6 billion in HUD Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding secured — the largest direct HUD disaster recovery allocation ever awarded to a local government
• The County of Maui is helping fund the rebuild of 607 affordable housing units lost in the fire, using CDBG-DR funds through the Ho‘okumu Hou Multi-Family Rebuild program
• Commercial recovery advancing: The core of the historic commercial district encompasses the 600, 700 and 800 blocks of Front Street — home to 46 commercial properties
  • 10 are shoreline properties being offered a buyout to mitigate natural hazard exposure while creating public shoreline open space
  • Of the 36 remaining (mauka) properties, 14 — over a third — are actively moving through planning and permitting: Six have received planning permits (some also with building permits in review), five are in plan review and three are in preapplication consultation
  • ʻUlu o Lele Marketplace returning commercial activity to Front Street this fall
  • Front Street Railing and Walkway Project was completed in July 2026
• More than 150 in-person community meetings were held in Lahaina and in Kula, with Lahaina meetings continuing monthly
• County Office of Recovery was created by Mayor Bissen on Sept. 19, 2023, and now leads recovery efforts from both the 2023 wildfires and the 2026 Kona low disasters

For general information on County Office of Recovery, visit https://www.mauicounty.gov/2823/Office-of-Recovery. For more information on disaster recovery, visit https://mauirecovers.org.