A brushfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui grew into a devastating wildfire that tore through portions of the island in what appears to be the worst disaster in the state’s history. The fire destroyed as much as 75% of the town of Lahaina, causing nearly 100 deaths and ruining more than 1,700 structures. As of late last week, three fires were still burning at various levels of containment on the island. Search and rescue teams have begun looking for survivors but predicted that the death toll will likely grow.
With a population of more than 13,000, Lahaina is one of the larger cities on the island of Maui – a popular tourist destination – and is home to many indigenous Hawaiian residents, having served as the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1820 to 1845. Originally a wetland, the area around Lahaina was drained by missionaries and subsequent business interests from the continental U.S., resulting in the displacement of Indigenous villages and permanent changes to the landscape and ecosystem. While Hawaii experiences wildfires regularly, months of drought this year resulted in dead vegetation that fueled the flames, which were then fanned by winds as powerful as 67 mph. These factors combined to create a large, rapidly moving fire that brought about widespread destruction.
Residents described a frantic evacuation, with some people jumping to the relative safety of the Lahaina harbor as the fire rapidly consumed the city’s downtown business district. With communications and internet access cut off in affected areas, the number of those missing on Maui is still unknown, though some residents have taken to social media to try to contact missing relatives.
In response to the emergency, Hawaii Governor Josh Green activated the state’s National Guard to assist disaster survivors and perform search and rescue operations. President Biden quickly approved the Governor’s request for a major disaster declaration, freeing up federal resources to assist response and eventual recovery efforts by FEMA. Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard began emergency assistance operations in the area earlier this week. Recovery is expected to cost billions of dollars.
NLIHC’s Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) – a group of over 900 local, state, and national organizations working to ensure that all disaster survivors receive the assistance they need to recover – has reached out to members on the island as well as the state’s congressional delegation. NLIHC and the DHRC will continue to track the impact of this wildfire on households with low incomes and work to ensure the availability and accessibility of disaster assistance.