In Case You Missed It

“There’s very, very traditional ways to fight fire. And with the weather that we’re facing now, we have to sometimes think outside the box, how it’s going to impact communities faster,” Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura said.

With the one-year anniversary of the Lahaina and Upcountry wildfires drawing near, business owners are pausing to reflect on their resilience and ability to withstand adversity, including losses of life, property and livelihood.

Firefighters battling the Haleakalā Crater Road fire have been challenged by difficult terrain, lava fields on the mauka side of the fire, soft soil when cutting firebreaks, swirling winds and low humidity. Maui fire officials note that while each fire is different, they have identified new technologies and organization that have helped to keep agencies better connected.

Dreams of homeownership came true for a young Maui family when Na Hale O Maui Executive Director Cassandra Abdul presented Codie and Pelemarie Chong with the keys to their new home on Meheu Circle in the Traditions at Maui Lani, Friday.

The Crater Road Fire has burned 574 acres since it was first reported on Wednesday evening. By 7 p.m. on Sunday, fire officials declared the fire 80% contained. Personnel with the Maui Fire Department will utilize an engine and a tanker overnight to monitor conditions, with work resuming on Monday.

The Crater Road fire has consumed more than 500 acres and was 40% contained at last report. Due to improving conditions Maui County officials have lifted the advisory for residents in affected areas to prepare for potential evacuations. The advisory was issued at 4:11 p.m. on Friday for the area above Kekaulike and Haleakalā highways between Upper Kimo and Waipoli roads, and was lifted at 6:57 p.m. today. Fire crews from Maui Fire Department, DOFAW, National Parks, and Air National Guard were on scene throughout the day, fighting the fire. An evacuation shelter at the King Kekaulike High School gym closed at 2 p.m., but will remain on standby if needed.

The price of a single-family home in Maui County soared to $1.35 million in June, up 30.8% over the same month last year, the Realtors Association of Maui reports. Meanwhile, condos remained virtually unchanged at $980,000.

Maui County officials issued an update shortly before 9 p.m., notifying the public there are NO evacuations called at this time. However, Maui Police Department officers are going through Kula neighborhoods notifying residents to PREPARE to evacuate if necessary and to sign up for MEMA Alerts.

“It’s distressing to all of us, even if it’s not coming right in our nearest vicinity, it’s still triggering, as it would be for anybody, either in Lahaina or Kula, that went through what we went through last year,” said Melissa James of The Ohana Animal Inn in Kula.

Update (8 p.m., July 11, 2024): Due to improving conditions Maui County officials have lifted the advisory as of 6:37 p.m. for residents in affected areas to prepare for potential evacuations. Maui Fire Department crews will remain on scene overnight to monitor the fire. Acreage of the fire decreased from 420 to 355 due to more accurate mapping assessments. 

While unloading cans of Spam and packets of saimin at distribution hubs shortly after the fires, Makale’a Ane and other farmers wanted to find ways to get fresher, healthier foods to families.  “After the fires, we kind of pivoted and took the work that we’re doing on the farm and said, let’s feed our people in this way,” said Ane, the climae and resilience director for the Living Pono Project.

“We felt it was time to really get a better understanding of how much really should be left in the streams as kind of the starting point and then balance that against the other uses as well,” Maui County Water Supply Director John Stufflebean said.

“We want to make sure that Moloka‘i High School is able to compete at a high level and that transportation is not a reason why they would not be able to,” Mokulele Airlines chief of staff Keith Sisson said.

“Everybody’s in a different situation. … We always say, do what you think would be good for your family and your situation,” said Desilee Santiago of the Disaster Recovery Permit Center.

“We never got a generator because we knew way back when if we ever had a major catastrophe of that significance all our physicians would report to the hospital because it’d be that severe,” Maui Medical Group Administrator Cliff Alakai said in explaining why the clinics would have to shut down if they lost power under Hawaiian Electric’s new plan.

Prolific herds of hungry Axis deer continue to wreak havoc in Maui County, damaging farm crops, overgrazing livestock pasture lands, threatening fragile watersheds and even encroaching in heavily urbanized areas like Kahului Airport’s runways and baggage claim areas. Without natural predators in the islands, the deer have flourished unchecked. Now, in part due to an initiative funded by Maui County, some deer are falling prey to hungry humans.

Walls are now in place for the first home to be rebuilt in the Lahaina impact zone since the deadly August 2023 wildfires. It’s a visual reminder of the hope that exists among those wanting to return to their beloved neighborhoods, and an encouraging sign of progress as displaced residents work their way through the permitting and construction process.

A future 60-bed Maui veterans home for the long-term health care of island veterans and their spouses is in the planning stages, with possible locations in Central Maui.

A standing-room-only crowd filled the Maui County Council chambers Tuesday morning to hear the start of debate over Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposed phase-out of approximately 7,000 transient vacation rental units in apartment-zoned districts.

Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposed elimination of transient vacation rentals in Maui County’s apartment-zoned districts is expected to lead to more available long-term rental and for-sale housing, although the high dollar value of apartments in coastal resort areas mean there “may be issues” about their affordability.