Nearly a year after winds ripped through Kim Ball’s Hawaii neighborhood, the vacant lot where his house once stood is a symbol of the nation’s deadliest wildfires in more than a century that destroyed thousands of homes and killed people, and rebuilding efforts are making some gains. Progress Lahaina has 102 people.
“Welcome to the neighborhood,” Ball said Wednesday as he greeted a van full of Hawaii reporters who were invited by Maui County officials to tour some of the fire-stricken sites.
Debris-covered lots on his street in Lahaina show which homes have been cleared of debris and toxic ash in the months since the Aug. 8, 2023 fire. On the plots along Comomai Street, some green areas can still be seen amid the charred vegetation.
Referring to the noise of heavy equipment work across the street, Ball described how he was able to get building permits quickly, in part because his house was only about five years old and his contractor still had plans.
Ball hopes to rebuild the same house based on those plans.
“We might change the paint color,” he said.
Some walls have been built on Gene Milne’s property near Maranai Street. He was the first to start construction because his previous house was not fully finished and had an opening permit.
When he evacuated, he lived in an attached dwelling, known locally as an “ohana unit,” borrowed from the Hawaiian word for “family.” The main house is about 70% complete.
“I was in complete denial that the fire would spread to my house,” he recalled. “Sure enough, when I came back a few days later it was gone.”
He said that it was “very healing” to see the walls of the new ohana units being built at the site. He used insurance money to rebuild and “looks forward to the day when I can have a cocktail on the balcony and enjoy my Maui home.”
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said construction on the Milne property “is a milestone for us.” “I think the rest of the community can use this as a starting point and say, ‘If they can do it, we can do it.'”
Although nearly a year has passed, Lahaina’s rebuild will be long and complicated. It’s unclear when people displaced by the fires will be able to return or whether they will be able to do so. The county has approved 23 residential building permits so far and has 70 more under review, officials said.
“We’re not focused on speed – we’re focused on safety,” Beeson said.
Other stops on the itinerary include ongoing work on the former outlet mall, which was once a popular shopping destination for tourists and locals, as well as a beloved 151-year-old giant banyan tree that has been destroyed due to conservation efforts. Now it is green and sprouting.
They tend the massive tree with alfalfa and other nutrients — “mostly water,” said arborist Tim Griffith, who is helping care for the tree along Lahaina’s historic Front Street. Griffith said. “Trees … heal themselves, especially when they are stressed.”
