Latest Fire Recovery News

In response to a letter from Hawaii delegates, the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced it is reopening enrollment for the Individuals and Households Program (IHP) to include Compacts of Free Association (COFA) citizens impacted by the Maui wildfires.

The DHHL Wildfire Relief Program, a direct response to the ongoing hardships faced by Native Hawaiian families residing on Hawaiian Home Lands, will offer up to six-months of rental and utility relief to eligible individuals and families. In the wake of the wildfires, this initiative seeks to alleviate the financial burdens that have arisen, enabling affected families to regain their stability and rebuild their lives.

Memorial consultant, Greg Miller will be the speaker at the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset meeting on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. Miller will share the overview of the process and steps involved in the San Diego Surfer’s Memorial.  He currently serves as the advisor of the Lahaina Town Fire Memorial.

In Kauaʻi County’s efforts to reduce fire risk and fuel sources, Mayor Kawakami announced this year’s budget will include $2.7 million in heavy equipment for Kauaʻi road crews to help manage vegetation, and added $1.5 million to cover costs to clear brush and large debris from county properties. The Kaua‘i Fire Department will also acquire two water tenders and a brush fire-fighting apparatus to enhance fire response.

After a closure of seven and a half months since the August wildfires, Lahaina Cannery announced it is reopening its doors to Maui residents and visitors on Monday, March 18, 2024.

The County of Maui Office of Recovery shared several updates for residents including progress made on deferred properties and sewer and water line inspections, and two new community engagement events.

In response to the August 2023 Wildfires, Sen. Angus McKelvey (District 6, West Maui, Māʻalaea, Waikapū, South Maui) introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 223, urging the United States Congress to pass legislation that would allow COFA migrants to benefit from federal emergency aid. 

A survivor in NCS seeking support for the FEMA-eligible program will have four opportunities to accept their Direct Housing option. Meanwhile, survivors in non-congregate sheltering seeking support through the state of Hawaiʻi’s Housing solution will be given two opportunities to accept an option. The state’s plan is to ultimately wrap up its NCS program.

The state House of Representatives on Wednesday approved the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 operating and capital improvement budget, amid a fiscally challenging year that prioritizes addressing wildfire-related expenses after the Aug. 8 tragedy in Lahaina and Upcountry Maui.

US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) along with Hawaiʻi colleagues, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-HI), and Rep. Ed Case (D-HI) are urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator, Deanne Criswell, to reopen the enrollment for the Individuals and Households Program to include Compacts of Free Association (COFA) citizens.

US Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) led the Hawaiʻi Congressional delegation in urging the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner, Danny Werfel, to extend the 2023 federal tax filing and payment deadlines for individuals and businesses impacted by the Maui wildfires. 

Sitting at the edge of scorched Lahaina Town and makai of the Lahaina Cannery Mall, the Old Lahaina Lūʻau reopens to tourism for the first time since the Aug. 8 wildfire.

Tomodachi Kibou for Maui, a new Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi program is preparing to depart for Higashimatsushima, Miyagi, Japan with 11 students who were impacted by the Lahaina wildfires on Maui in August 2023.

EPA evaluated all 97,749 linear feet of lateral sanitary sewer lines in approximately one month. Sewer segments that were inaccessible, damaged, or obstructed were flagged for the county for additional assessment and work. 

Maui attorney, Jan K. Apo, who is representing hundreds of families impacted by the August 2023 Maui wildfires, lauded Monday’s federal court decision to remand some 90 Lahaina fire cases back to the state court on Maui. 

Maui County Council members were sharply divided Friday over a proposal to use Maui County’s condemnation power of eminent domain to obtain a nearly 20-acre former quarry next to the Central Maui Landfill for the final disposal of toxic Lahaina fire ash and debris.

The second of two Lahaina Gateway signs that were stolen shortly after the August wildfires, was returned to the Lahaina Restoration Foundation on Friday. It was found cut into three pieces, but executives say they are able to piece the sign together and will reinstall it in West Maui.

Early wildfire detection and wind sensors are on their way to Kīhei and Lahaina, public officials announced at a press conference in South Maui today.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Kāʻanapali for a secondary temporary school site for Sacred Hearts. Students have been attending classes at the Sacred Hearts Mission Church in Kapalua since their Lahaina campus next to Maria Lanakila Church was destroyed in the Aug. 8 wildfires.

The bill would direct key federal agencies to use AI tools to improve weather forecasting, crack down on illegal deforestation and optimize electrical grids.