Wildfire — The Grains Of Paradise

Aloha

On August 8th 2023 life on Maui changed forever. I’m not quite ready to go into much detail regarding the devastating wildfires right now but as most of you already know, Lahaina Town is gone.

I moved to Lahaina as an optimistic 22 year old after a brief stint in American Samoa in early 1999. I lived on Front Street in a nice condo that I shared with two of my co-workers at the time. My rent was only $350 a month. I didn’t have a car, but I could easily walk to my retail job just 5 minutes away. Eventually, I bought a bike and I would ride from one end of town to the other for exercise. When doing so, I would practice my Hawaiian by reading the names of the streets out loud as I past by them… Papalaua, Wainee, Luakini…Makes me so sad just thinking about that now.

Fast forward 20 years to 2018.

My husband and I decided to move from West Maui to the Windward side. The move was a big one for us since we still worked in Lahaina and had to commit to a long daily commute. But we wanted our own home with a yard, something large enough for family to visit, and I wanted to live where it just rained more. If you’ve ever spent time on Maui, you know that the westside is quite dry and has been getting drier and drier over the years. Especially since the sugarcane industry has been shut down.

Wildfires have been getting more common and leeward Maui was starting to remind me more and more of the drought land I grew up in. Any native Californian ( sadly ) knows that dry brush, strong wind conditions, and power lines are a recipe for disaster. I can’t tell you how many wildfires I have personally experience on Maui in the last 15 years but the frequency is starting to get alarming. A notable fire was back in 2018 when Hurricane Lane passed south of the Hawaiian islands and Lahaina Town was threatened by massive inferno. Luckily, structure damage was kept to a minimum but some homes were destroyed. Still, it was nothing compared the fire sparked by Hurricane Dora this summer. Knowing what we know now, 2018 should have been a major wake call.

By a stroke of luck, my husband and I weren’t working on August 8th. I shudder to think what would have happened if the fire occurred on a normal work day for us. With no cell service and no power, I would have probably left my office in Kaanapali and tried to make my way down to my husband’s place of business in Lahaina. Just like I’ve done countless times in similar situations. Especially if I knew the road to get home was closed. But we weren’t working that day, so we didn’t have to experience the absolute hells cape that so many of our friends had to endure. The first hand stories I have heard of the frantic rush to escape the wildfires are absolutely unbelievable. So many of our friends lost their homes, a few lost family members and some lost pets. Almost everyone I know lost their livelihood, including us. Many of those that didn’t lose their homes are still in the “burn zone” and can’t return because there’s no power, no water, and no sewer service. It’s all just so sad and some people have no choice but to move off island for now.

So where do we go from here? I honestly don’t know. I don’t think we’ll know for awhile? Do we leave? We definitely don’t want to. I’m hoping the answer will eventually present itself. As of now, we plan on staying and hopefully we can.

I’m trying to keep this post brief but I want to thank you all for the love, support, and aide that our country ( and the world! ) has given to this small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We most definitely feel it. And please come visit Maui soon. we need you more than ever right now.

Mahalo and a hui hou…