As of late Aug. 13, nearly 100 people were confirmed dead following an inferno that quickly swept over the Hawaiian island of Maui days prior.
The fire began as a brush fire, which was reported to the County of Maui five days ago at 6:37 a.m., according to the county’s Facebook page. Evacuations around the Lahaina Intermediate School were immediately ordered and fire crews were quickly on the scene battling the blaze.
Maui County declared the Lahaina fire — which hit as fire fighters were battling a separate wildfire further east — fully contained around 10 a.m. But officials say there was a flareup around 3:30 p.m., fueled by strong winds from Hurricane Dora that blew the fire so quickly it traveled the length of an entire football field at a rate of 20 seconds or less.
The fire forced more than 11,000 people to flee their homes, with some having to quickly dive into the ocean to escape the flames.
Hawaii’s second largest island, once known for its beaches and idyllic views of migrating humpback whales, is now the location of the deadliest U.S. blaze in more than a century.
The Maui Police Department confirmed 96 fatalities as of Aug. 14, but only three percent of affected homes have been searched, and at least 1,000 people remain missing, ominous signs that the death toll could rise substantially.
As locals continue to confront the direct impact the fire had on their city, they simultaneously worry about another grave threat — that rebuilding efforts will target affluent outsiders who will use the crisis to displace Native Hawaiians and local-born residents.
Richy Palalay, 25, who was born and raised in Lahaina, told the Associated Press (AP) that he is “concerned of big land developers coming in and seeing this charred land as an opportunity to rebuild,” he said in a text message written while at a shelter for evacuees.
Hotels and condominiums “that we can’t afford, that we can’t afford to live in — that’s what we’re afraid of,” he added.
The fire destroyed Palalay’s restaurant, neighborhood, and possibly the four-bedroom home where he is paying $1,000 per month to rent a single room, the AP reported.
As of June, Maui County’s median home price was $1.25 million, up 13.6 percent from the same month last year. Median sales prices for condo units in the county hit $832,500, a 34.3 percent increase from the $620,000 median price in June 2021.
“So a lot of more recent arrivals — typically from the American mainland who have more money and can buy homes at a higher price — were to some extent displacing local families in Lahaina,” Sterling Higa, the executive director of Housing Hawaii’s Future, a nonprofit organization that advocates for more housing in Hawaii, told the AP, discussing how the town is subject to gentrification.
“As they deal with this — the frustration of fighting insurance companies or fighting (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) — many of them may well leave because there are no other options,” Higa said.
A TikTok account using the name LahainaFireUpdates posted a video of a woman who says that real estate investors are already calling local residents in a bid to purchase their properties.
@lahainafireupdates This is disgusting 😡 Families just lost their homes, many lost loved ones, and some investers have the audacity to call these families and offer to buy the last thing they have to their name?? 🤬🤬 Video from Kakoo_haleakala on Instagram 🫶 #lahainafire #lahaina #prayformaui #fypシ #hawaiifire #foryou #lahainahawaii #lahainamaui #frontstreet #fire #news #viral #mauifire #hawaii #maui #rescue #fire #wildfire #firefighter ♬ original sound – Lahaina Fire Updates
Gov. Josh Green told reporters that he won’t let Lahaina get too expensive for locals during the rebuilding effort.
“We want Lahaina to be a part of Hawaii forever,” the AP quoted Green as saying. “We don’t want it to be another example of people being priced out of paradise.”
County officials say the Lahaina fire burned 2,170 acres and as of Aug. 14 is 85 percent contained, while a separate fire in Kula burned an estimated 678 acres and is now 60 percent contained. Two other smaller fires were reported, but were both contained days ago.
The county also has a water advisory in effect for Lahaina and Kula, with recommendations to use only bottled water for drinking, brushing teeth, ice making, and food preparation.
