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Sugimura holds the council seat for the Upcountry area, which saw heavy damage from Maui’s ongoing wildfires. While West Maui saw the brunt of damage and all loss of life was tied to Lahaina, Upcountry is seeing its share of damage to property amid ongoing wildfire suppression efforts.

Monday morning a caravan of nurse practitioners, mental health counselors, a psychiatrist and dedicated volunteers arrived in West Maui to support residents in-need from the Lahaina fire.

ABC News’ “Good Morning America” announced today “Maui Strong,” a special initiative spotlighting the Maui community with a call to action to raise funds for their recovery efforts following the recent deadly wildfires.

Dr. Lisa M. Labrecque, DVM, said in a news conference Monday that there is an estimated 3,000 lost animals due to the Maui fires.

“I’ve reached out to the Attorney General to explore options to do a moratorium on any sales of properties that have been damaged or destroyed,” said Governor Green. “Moreover, I would caution people that it’s going to be a very long time, before any growth, or housing can be built. And so, you would be pretty poorly informed if you try to steal land from our people and then build here.”

The devastating Lahaina wildfire consumed two homes at the Villages of Leialiʻi homestead, which consists of 104 residential lots.  They were among the 2,207 structures damaged or destroyed in the Lahaina wildfire.

Wildfire updates for Monday Aug. 15 are posted: HERE. Recovery efforts continue on Maui where wildfires decimated the Historic Lahaina Town in West Maui, leaving a path of destruction spanning nearly 3.5 square miles. The fires were driven by hurricane force winds with 80 mph gusts as system Dora passed well south of the Hawaiian Islands on Tuesday, Aug. 8. The largest fires in Kula and Lahaina are still active burn areas where firefighting efforts continue. The wildfire is described as the nation’s deadliest in a 100 years.

All non-essential travel to West Maui (including Lahaina, Nāpili, Kāʻanapali, and Kapalua) is strongly discouraged through the month of August, Gov. Josh Green said in his latest emergency proclamation.

The names of people who died in the Lahaina fire are now beginning to become public by their family members.

A coordinated effort between the state and Maui organizations and nonprofits will begin collecting, storing and inventorying supplies donated to Maui County to support victims of the wildfires in Kula and Lahaina.

UH Foundation has set up several funds to benefit students, faculty and staff, and another to support the meals being made at Maui College for evacuees and first responders.

Serving Hawai‘i for over 75 years, Catholic Charities Hawai‘i has provided aid to local residents of all faiths and cultures in previous disasters such as Hurricane Iniki, the recent Kīlauea eruptions, and the COVID-19 pandemic. “We will be there again during this time of great need,” said CEO and president Rob Van Tassell.

Just eight days before the wildfires on Maui struck, the dollar limits on federal disaster assistance loans to repair and replace primary homes and to reimburse for the destroyed contents of homes, personal effects and cars — including those of renters — was dramatically increased.

Tropical Storm Greg will pass well south of the Hawaiian Islands, just like Category 4 Hurricane Dora did, but Greg will not bring conditions conducive for wildfires or hamper Maui recovery efforts.

Charter Communications has opened more than 8,000 Spectrum Out-of-Home WiFi access points across Hawaiʻi to aid the Maui wildfire response. In addition, Charter is providing free unlimited Spectrum WiFi access at four venues serving as community resource centers: War Memorial Gymnasium, Mayor Hannibal Tavares Community Center, War Memorial Stadium, and Iron Maehara Stadium.

There are now at least three different providers actively aiding in Medical response to the needs of those in the West Maui community.

Firefighters continue to battle the Upcountry/Kula fire that was about 60% contained as of Sunday evening. The water is unsafe to drink or cook with in the impacted areas.

The first of 32 generators have arrived at a FEMA staging area to support the ongoing response to wildfires on Maui. Other supplies that have arrive include meals and blankets. More commodities and supplies are arriving via the port.

Blue Hawaiian Helicopters has shifted its operations from tourism to supporting disaster relief efforts in the areas devastated by the wildfires in Lahaina. 

Wildfire updates for Monday Aug. 14 are posted: HERE.