#lahaina fire

With the diligent help of the community, the sign was recovered and the members of Lahaina Rotary Club and Lahaina Restoration Foundation re-installed the sign on Friday. The second sign which stood across from Puamana Park will be installed at a future date.

Some property owners are seeing increases by as much as 50%, and even with a tax rate cut, they may still see a higher bill.

The Maui Food Bank, in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Hawaiʻi Nutrition Center, offers healthy food demonstrations at Da Market in Lahaina by incorporating products that neighbors in the program can access at Da Market.

Representing 73 landowners, Front Street Recovery is committed to rebuilding the heart of Lahaina by restoring over 800 businesses and providing more than 7,000 jobs critical to supporting local families and the community.

In 2024, US Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) helped secure more than $6 billion in federal funding for Hawai‘i as he led efforts to deliver resources to support Maui’s recovery from last year’s fires and advance a range of other priorities for the state.

Shawn Lewis, who was known as “Bigfoot” by the local surfing community because of his partially amputated left leg, died from a gunshot wound in September.

The State Historic Preservation Division is considering developing sensitivity maps and one archaeological monitoring plan that all residential and commercial property owners can use so they don’t have to develop and pay for individual ones.

The first two completed homes under the Housing for Healthcare initiative were blessed in a private ceremony held with the two new tenants and their families, both Maui healthcare professionals who lost their homes and belongings in the devastating Lahaina fires last year. The families moved into their homes this month.

After being closed following the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire, the Lahaina Aquatic Center reopened to dozens of swimmers Saturday, Oct. 11.

Elizabeth Pickett, the long-time co-executive director of the Hawai‘i Wildfire Management Organization (HWMO) was honored today at a ceremony in New York City, as one of the 2024 Grist 50. Grist bills itself as the only newsroom focused on finding solutions at the intersection of climate and justice.

There is much uncertainty about the rebounding of the Lahaina fishing industry with only two of the commercial fishing boats docked in the harbor having survived the fire and a timeline of at least two more years before the damaged harbor can reopen.

The land trust says listings of burned properties in Lahaina with prices well above their assessed land values pre-fire will draw outside investors and put properties out of the reach of local buyers. But sellers say it’s a tough call to put their properties on the market and that they’re just trying to recoup their losses and move on with their lives.

“We got a request for help late on the night of Aug. 8, 2023, and we deployed a boat and three personal watercraft from the Māʻalaea Small Boat Harbor. Normally the 13-mile trip takes a half hour. With hurricane force winds in our face and very rough sea conditions it took us more than an hour to get to Lahaina,” said DOCARE Lt. Jeff Kinores.

“It’s going to be a long process,” said Kā‘eo Blas, reflecting on one year since a fire burned down his home and much of Lahaina town. “Sometimes you think it gets better but it’s always there. It’s like losing somebody you love. You still get the memories, they’re still in your heart, but they’re not there. It’s not the same.”

The Maui Arts & Cultural Center presents singer/songwriter Justin Kawika Young in a MACC “Local Voices” concert in the McCoy Studio Theater Friday, Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets go on sale online only at 10 a.m. to MACC members Tuesday, July 23 and to the general public Friday, July 26.

Interim housing sites include 450 modular homes under construction at Ka Laʻi Ola in West Maui, and 150 units at Hale ‘O Lā‛ie (formerly the Haggai Institute in Kīhei).

The Maui Bicycling League will join more than 400 global locations in hosting the annual Ride of Silence, this Saturday, May 25, 2024. This solemn event, part of Bike Month, pays tribute to cyclists who have been injured or lost their lives while riding.

Four Maui businesses impacted by the fires last August were selected for three months of rent relief and a $2,000 business scholarship at the Queen Kaʻahumanu Center. As part of Pacific Retail Capital Partners and Queen Kaʻahumanu Center’s #ExtendAloha campaign to spread awareness and raise funds for the community, Maui businesses that needed help getting back on their feet were encouraged to apply for the leasing space opportunity within the center. 

The program is open to high school juniors and seniors who were directly impacted by the Maui wildfires. Selected cohort members will participate in training sessions on Maui, followed by a week-long trip to Higashimatsushima in the Tohoku region of Japan. Cohort members will learn about disaster recovery, meet with students from Higashimatsushima, and participate in workshops led by local community organizers directly involved in the recovery efforts following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Residents are invited to attend Mayor Richard Bissen’s Weekly Disaster Recovery Community Update Meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 22. The weekly meeting, previously held in the gymnasium, will move to the downstairs social hall at Lahaina Civic Center.