Latest Fire Recovery News

OP-ED: Senator Angus McKelvey (District 6, West Maui, Mā‘alaea, Waikapū, South Maui) issued a statement responding to Governor Green and Mayor Bissen’s interim housing plan for Maui wildfire survivors.

The collective effort, called the “Maui Interim Housing Plan” commits to securing a pool of 3,000 housing units with 18-month commitments to provide a stable place for households displaced by the Maui fires, currently residing in short-term hotels.

Governor Josh Green, M.D., today signed the Ninth Emergency Proclamation on Wildfires to extend and facilitate state support for the recovery of the people of Maui. 

The Pūlama nā ‘Ohana team from Maui Behavioral Health Resources has been working in the community for the past several months to provide assistance to those effected by the Maui wildfires.

Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen “promised” Thursday that Olowalu will not be the final site for the estimated 400,000 cubic yards of fire debris to be removed from the Lahaina burn zone.

To help support the recovery efforts in the Maui community, PUMA Golf has teamed up with local Maui artist, Wailani Artates, to design a Limited Edition “L” golf cap inspired by Lahainaluna High School’s “L” on the hill above the school.

Since the inception of the Laptop Relief Program, there has been an overwhelming response of nearly 1,000 applications from displaced Maui residents seeking replacement devices.

The Round Table Pizza franchise announced a $100,000 donation to Maui United Way to aid its ongoing recovery efforts in the wake of the catastrophic fires that swept through the island in August. The donation is the collective effort of Round Table Pizza and its franchisees, in addition to parent company FAT Brands’ charitable organization.

Regular weekend gatherings at the Hyatt Regency Maui and Royal Lahaina Hotel have become part of the healing process for survivors of the August wildfires on Maui. In partnership with Hui Ho‘omalu and Laukanaka, Kamehameha Schools, Maui Arts & Cultural Center, and the hotel shel­ters, the Office of Wellness and Resilience has been coordinating the gatherings since early October.

A team of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers are asking Maui residents to participate in a study to analyze the short- and long-term health effects of exposure to the deadly wildfires that destroyed Lahaina and parts of Kula. Registration begins Jan. 5, 2024.

The site is designed for 600 students and features 30 planned classrooms. As of Christmas, 17 classrooms were already in place. The entrance to the 10 acre site is via Akahele Street below the Kapalua Airport.

Treecovery Hawaii has been working with the Army Corps to help keep surviving trees in the Lahaina and Kula burn zones healthy while also providing soil remediation in the area.

Hana Hou Hospitality announced its Māla Ocean Tavern is set to reopen in February of 2024. The restaurant is one of five West Maui establishments run by the group, two of which were destroyed by the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfire in Lahaina.

The Maui County Department of Transportation announced that the hotel circulator shuttles in West Maui will be discontinued effective 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.

Amos Lonokailua-Hewett has been selected as the new administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, effective Jan. 1, 2024. He brings to the position 25 years of service with Maui Fire Department before retiring in 2019 as a battalion chief.

The Hawaiʻi State Legislature announced that the Grants-In-Aid process for the 2024 Legislative Session is now open, and interested parties are asked to submit their applications to the Legislature by the Jan. 19, 2024 deadline.

Maui County residents impacted by the Aug. 8 wildfires who relocated to Kaua‘i, O‘ahu or Hawai‘i Island may apply for the Maui Relief TANF Program for families with dependent children through Community Action Programs on those islands.

Celebrated chef and TV personality Guy Fieri teamed up with the Hawaiʻi Restaurant Association, American Savings Bank and Fiserv, Inc., to distribute $600 prepaid debit cards to Lahaina restaurant workers who lost their job when their workplace was destroyed in the tragic wildfires on Aug. 8.

“The impact of the Maui wildfires continues to be felt in November’s figures, but with most of West Maui now reopened to tourism, there is a concerted effort to reinvigorate job opportunities and facilitate the economic recovery of Maui,” said DBEDT Director James Kunane Tokioka.

Kaleo Manuel, the First Deputy on the state Commission on Water Resource Management is apparently leaving his post after being reassigned following the August wildfires, and then reinstated two months later following an investigation by the Attorney General.