The Lahaina wildfire that killed at least 102 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings did not stem from a single cause, according to the phase-two Lahaina Fire Incident Analysis Report released Friday and prepared by the independent Fire Safety Research Institute for the state of Hawaiʻi.

A summary report of community engagement by the County of Maui with the Lahaina community is now available to view and download on the Ola Lahaina page at www.MauiRecovers.org.

Hawaiʻi Attorney General Anne Lopez announced today the results of the Lahaina Fire Incident Analysis Report, the second report of the three-part evidence-based investigation into how state and county governments responded during the Maui wildfires. The report reveals no single factor led to the devastation. Instead, a complex set of factors including weather and its impacts, risk and preparedness, decades-old infrastructure, organizational structure and incident management and coordination created a historic disaster. The report was prepared by the Fire Safety Research Institute (FSRI), a part of UL Research Institutes.

As Congress considers a short-term spending bill to keep the government open past the Sept. 30 funding deadline, US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) Thursday spoke on the Senate floor on the importance of including disaster aid to support survivors on Maui and across the country. In particular, Schatz stressed the need to provide disaster survivors with flexible, long-term assistance in the form of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding which will enable them to rebuild their homes and communities as quickly as possible.

Months ahead of the original January 2025 deadline, debris has been cleared from 100 percent of 1,390 residential properties in the Lahaina Impact Zone, according to the County of Maui.

US Rep. Jill Tokuda honored the memory of the Maui fire victims upon her return to Congress on Tuesday morning. While on the House Floor, she read the names of the victims and those still missing (while displaying their photos), entering them into the Congressional Record. 

A report by the the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety recommends rebuilding strategies to prevent future wildfire disasters, such as the conflagration that engulfed Lahaina Aug. 8-9, 2023, killing at least 102 people and destroying more than 1,500 structures, mostly homes.

US Small Business Administration Associate Administrator Francisco Sánchez Jr. convened a roundtable of local business and community leaders Thursday to listen and learn about SBA’s performance following the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfires.

Mayor Bissen, along with County of Maui Managing Director Josiah Nishita and other County staff, will travel to California to attend the After the Fire USA 2024 Wildfire Leadership Summit.

The nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service today announced its 2024 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal winners, which includes recognition of the 2023 Maui Wildfires Emergency Response Team.

Whaler’s Fine Jewelry owner Tien Doan is no stranger to adversity. A survivor of Pol Pot’s “Killing Fields” in Cambodia, Doan lost his Front Street family home to last year’s wildfire, along with two vacation rental properties — reduced to ashes.

The County of Maui’s Office of Recovery and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement announced a partnership that brings CNHA’s Kākoʻo Maui Resource Center to the Office of Recovery-West Maui at Lahaina Gateway.

The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation advises highway users to expect delays this weekend as wide loads will be transported from Kahului Harbor to a staging area near the Kahului boat ramp beginning Saturday morning, Sept. 7 through Monday morning, Sept. 9. Trucks will be transporting modular homes that will eventually be moved to Lahaina for wildfire survivors.

Members of the US House Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, including Hawaiʻi US Reps. Jill Tokuda and Ed Case, heard an update Wednesday on last year’s deadly wildfires during a hearing at the Lahaina Civic Center.

Mobile Power Hawaiʻi announced the launch of its new mobile solar generator, the PowerCube. The PowerCube is a formidable 10 kW solar array with 28 kWh of stored energy mounted to a trailer. The flexibility of the PowerCube and its production capabilities are the result of longtime Maui residents Corey Barth and Paul Maselli’s ingenuity and problem-solving in the wake of the Lahaina fires.

Maui Tropix Surf Co. raised and donated $100,000 to the Hawai’i Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund. The funds will go towards ongoing wildfire relief and recovery following the August 2023 Maui wildfires.

Elected officials will hear from federal and local witnesses as it looks into whether the government followed the lessons it learned from other disasters.

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation announced a $2.128 million grant to the Daniel R. Sayre Memorial Foundation. The total award amount comprises $1 million from HCF’s Maui Strong Fund and $1.128 million donated by Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez. The new trucks will have the ability to drive off-pavement, allowing crews to better reach wildfires early and prevent them from spreading.

Executive director of HomeAid Hawaiʻi, Kimo Carvalho, will be the guest speaker at the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset meeting on Tuesday, Sept 17, 2024. Carvalho will share information about Ka La‘i Ola: A HomeAid Hawaiʻi Interim Housing Development Program for Maui wildfire survivors.

Recipients of the “Rising Phoenix” awards, honoring members of Maui Rotary Clubs for their exceptional contributions to the fire relief efforts included: Leah Harbottle, Mariko Higashi, Wendy Hornack, Liz May, Joanne Laird, Ann Neizman, and Soakai Taufa.