Nora Brennan, '26
Waking up on August 8, 2023, in Maui, many tourists and residents couldn’t have imagined the destruction that would reach them by the end of the day. The small brush fires that started up in Kula and near Lahainaluna Road that began in the early morning were said to have been 100% contained by firefighters at 9 a.m. Responders later called the fires extinguished with no smoke or heat and left the scene at 2 p.m. However, many people who lived around the area were still concerned. They were worried about the embers that had gotten thrown into the dry grass around the area. Juan Advincula, 58, who watched the firefighters’ efforts to put the fire out said, “I was angry because they were leaving the area unattended.” He further elaborated, “It was the winds, the dryness, and the embers I was afraid of. Someone should have stayed.” A woman near the original fire area said that the fire restarted around 2:45 p.m., at which time she called 911. Firefighters raced back to the scene, but it was too late; the fires had started rapidly spreading down the hillside towards Lahaina. The fire moved so fast that, “Two huge trucks were immediately consumed and melted,” commented the governor, Josh Grenn. The strong wind gusts of 80 mph coming from Hurricane Dora to the south weren’t helping. Instead, they created the deadly mix of conditions that helped fuel the fires.
There is also not a lot of firefighting help on the island of Maui. A New York Times article says, “The firefighters association has estimated that about 65 firefighters are on duty on the island at any given time.” By the time the fire got to the central part of town, the water supply had collapsed, which meant there was no water left in the hydrants to fight the fire with.
By 5 p.m., the situation got extremely dire, with many people fleeing or at least trying. Some people even jumped into the ocean to escape the fires.
The resulting death toll came out to be 115 with 2,200 structures destroyed and an estimated cost of $5 billion dollars needed to rebuild the city. Since the fires, there have been lawsuits filed against the Hawaiian Electric Company, who acknowledged that the first fire started with what, “appears to have been caused by power lines that fell in high winds,” but still called the lawsuit “factually and legally irresponsible,” because it didn’t cause the second blaze. Instead, they argued that the firefighters were to blame for calling it contained and leaving. Accusations focused on not taking full responsibility for the fire, even though the focus should be more on supporting this tremendous loss.
Being the deadliest fire in the past century, this will certainly affect Maui for years to come, impacting tourism while taking a long time to rebuild and recover.