Fires on Maui and in Lahaina

[GoPokes!]

serious bummer. Fleetwood's?

From a video I saw, the building is still standing, but it appears the interior has been consumed by fire. Building at end of video:

 

[pedro47]

Death toll just officially increased to 36.

Maui, looked liked a war zone from WWII.
The death toll will continue to rise until all these wildfires are completely out. IMHO.

 

[SandyPGravel]

Confirmed that the Cannery Mall (Safeway, Longs) is gone as is Walgreens. I assume the Foodland across the road burned too but that part isn’t confirmed.

Wow. Just read an announcement from our retail President (WAG) only stated "is closed and has suffered damage"

 

[jiffer]

I was booked to arrive at my timeshare Kaanapali Beach Club this Saturday. This morning I received an email that the resort will be closed. My heart breaks for the people and businesses in Maui. I have been vacationing at KBC for 25 years and have made friends with many people. I am trying to get in touch with Diamond Resorts to see what I will need to do about my week that was scheduled.

 

[goodbadugly]

I have zero say in this, but I would personally want to see Lahaina rebuilt modeling after the original, with the same historic requirements (the 35' tall max is a good one). Definitely would not want to see high rises, resorts, etc.

We have next July 4th booked, and I'm not sure what we'll do at this point. I would almost feel guilty about visiting given what is going on.

We are booked for March

 

[Bob1946]

Just to give a sense of how extensive this is. This is a satellite overlay from the heat signatures given off by the fire today. As you can see, it’s devastated Lahaina.

View attachment 80045

Source: NASA https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.go...viirs,modis_a,modis_t,street;@-156.7,20.9,13z

On top of everything, concrete news is minimal. TV stations continue to show the same clips from 24 hours ago.

Sorry to be a wet blanket, but each red block in the original post indicate where imagery was collected, not heat of the area.

 

[letsgobobby]

have family booked for October at Westin Ka'anapali. they'll need to reschedule.

so sad

 

[NTP66]

We are booked for March

I take it you're going to wait a few months to decide whether or not to proceed?

 

[lily28]

anyone know what is going on at marriott maui ocean club? my family friends is there now but not able to reach them via phone or text. called MOC but got recorded message that power is out at the resort. is MOC affected by the fire if safeway is affected? is MOC being evacuated?

 

[WaikikiFirst]

36.
36. Have to guess this clean-up will be done with white gloves and many memorials. With that single road to get to Lahaina and then on to Kaanapali, I think it i slikely Kaanapali cancellations stretch out a long ways.

 

[dms111]

We are booked at WKORV for next Feb-Mar and feel almost obligated to go and support the economy. Even with the terrible destruction in Lahaina, Maui is still a beautiful island and tourists are the heart of their economy. Hoping our visit can help get the island back to what it was pre-fire--one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

 

[lmnanea]

If anyone is planning on visiting Maui in the next few months, I would strongly reconsider and at least have a backup plan.

Realistically, this is going to take a long time to recover from. Lahaina will never be the same.

I agree with @jabberwocky if you have never been to Maui/Lahaina or going for touristy reasons. But regular Maui visitors should perhaps consider keeping their plans to help revive tourism which would be hard hit by this and is a major source of income for many. We have 3 weeks planned in late Winter, and will consider keeping if the Marriott/Westin Resorts are fully open.

 

[lmnanea]

We are booked at WKORV for next Feb-Mar and feel almost obligated to go and support the economy. Even with the terrible destruction in Lahaina, Maui is still a beautiful island and tourists are the heart of their economy. Hoping our visit can help get the island back to what it was pre-fire--one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

Agreed @dms111. We feel the same. Its now that Maui needs us most.

 

[SandyPGravel]

We are booked at WKORV for next Feb-Mar and feel almost obligated to go and support the economy. Even with the terrible destruction in Lahaina, Maui is still a beautiful island and tourists are the heart of their economy. Hoping our visit can help get the island back to what it was pre-fire--one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world.

We are booked mid-December. Waiting to see how Marriott reacts.

 

[ds53cns]

This is so so sad. My wife grew up going to Lahaina ever other summer and we have gone a number of times since getting married. Such an amazing place. Bought our tickets on Tuesday to spend Thanksgiving at the HRC. Now not sure what to do. Not complaining at all, just in shock and feel sick for the residents.

 

[WalnutBaron]

I agree with @jabberwocky if you have never been to Maui/Lahaina or going for touristy reasons. But regular Maui visitors should perhaps consider keeping their plans to help revive tourism which would be hard hit by this and is a major source of income for many. We have 3 weeks planned in late Winter, and will consider keeping if the Marriott/Westin Resorts are fully open.

I know this is the voice of just one person, but FOX News interviewed a lifelong resident of Lahaina who pleaded with tourists not to come visit "for a long time". He said the destruction of the town was devastating to the community and that it would take a long time for residents to heal, hopefully without the distractions of tourists who will find themselves in a totally different environment from what they remember or expect.

Of course, he was speaking out of his shock and loss and not thinking of how much Maui depends on those very tourists for their livelihoods, but it will be a very delicate path forward between being sensitive to all those who have lost everything and the tourists who will bring money back into the economy to help Maui recover.

 

[NTP66]

I know this is the voice of just one person, but FOX News interviewed a lifelong resident of Lahaina who pleaded with tourists not to come visit "for a long time". He said the destruction of the town was devastating to the community and that it would take a long time for residents to heal, hopefully without the distractions of tourists who will find themselves in a totally different environment from what they remember or expect.

Of course, he was speaking out of his shock and loss and not thinking of how much Maui depends on those very tourists for their livelihoods, but it will be a very delicate path forward between being sensitive to all those who have lost everything and the tourists who will bring money back into the economy to help Maui recover.

Completely understandable, but realistically this is probably not sustainable for their economy. I'd like to think that things will have settled down by early next year, and that more would be open to visitors.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Waiting to see how Marriott reacts.

Waiting to see how the governor reacts. Mgmt of all the Lahaina/K'pali/Kapalua area resorts are extremely busy now trying to figure out how to wind things down in the short-term. For the med to long term, they have nothing to do but wait to take marching orders from the government. The push/pull of grieving/tourism was obvious 24 hrs ago, and it takes more dimensions than have been discussed here.
24 hr ago, I guessed tourism would outweigh, but with 36 ... I'll take the over on your (the royal "you", not Sandy) guess as to the next time you drive to Lahaina on any existing reservation.

 

[JIMinNC]

It will not be a quick rebuild.
All the self-appointed "activists" will come out of the woodwork,
After all, they delayed the wreck removal from Kaanapali beach for weeks/months then at the last minute torpedoed the project with the State to repair the beachwalk there too.

Was going to start booking for Fall 2024 but maybe skip Maui next year

The fires aren’t even all out yet, but the activists have already started.

I awoke this morning to see social media posts from the same type of activist groups that blocked the sand re-nourishment project and slowed the boat removal, pledging to go to court and do whatever it takes to block the rebuilding of any tourist focused infrastructure in Lahaina. Only houses and infrastructure supporting residents will be supported. One person said “Lahaina will never be a tourist town again. Haole go home.”

 

[NTP66]

The fires aren’t even all out yet, but the activists have already started.

I awoke this morning to see social media posts from the same type of activist groups that blocked the sand re-nourishment project and slowed the boat removal, pledging to go to court and do whatever it takes to block the rebuilding of any tourist focused infrastructure in Lahaina. Only houses and infrastructure supporting residents will be supported. One person said “Lahaina will never be a tourist town again. Haole go home.”

These are the types of people who will literally cause everyone else around them to suffer, and for no good reason.

 

[Floridanat]

We've been coming to Maui since 2000 and love the place and the people. We're going from 9/7 to 9/28 with time split between both Westin Kaannapali South and Hilton Maui Bay Villas. As long as the resorts are open we'll still be going to support the economy and volunteering to help out in anyway possible.

 

[wilma]

The fires aren’t even all out yet, but the activists have already started.

I awoke this morning to see social media posts from the same type of activist groups that blocked the sand re-nourishment project and slowed the boat removal, pledging to go to court and do whatever it takes to block the rebuilding of any tourist focused infrastructure in Lahaina. Only houses and infrastructure supporting residents will be supported. One person said “Lahaina will never be a tourist town again. Haole go home.”

Where did you see these comments?

 

[ScoopKona]

We've been coming to Maui since 2000 and love the place and the people. We're going from 9/7 to 9/28 with time split between both Westin Kaannapali South and Hilton Maui Bay Villas. As long as the resorts are open we'll still be going to support the economy and volunteering to help out in anyway possible.

I seriously doubt Maui is going to be open for business for quite some time. Maybe I will be proven wrong. But every project -- from hospitals to the monorail to new housing communities -- has blown way past every deadline and gone way over budget. The traffic on Kahehilli is going to be insane. Who knows when Honopiilani will be open for anything other than emergency/construction traffic.

 

[10spro]

As long as the resorts are open we'll still be going to support the economy and volunteering to help out in anyway possible.

We have reservations arriving mid-Oct. So many people saying to cancel, but I'm wondering if we should go. We are not typical tourists, have been to the islands many times, will be respectful of the challenges, and hope to help the efforts while we're there. Will need to decide in the next few days to cancel or not, and I don't think there will be any official statement by then. The "don't come" message doesn't give a timeframe because they don't know one yet, but they'll still need tourist dollars to help sustain the businesses that did survive.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I hope they take lessons from Munich, which rebuilt after the war but replicated the historic buildings. Unlike Frankfurt, with its gleaming stainless steel highrises.

I have visit a number of cities in Europe that looked very historic and later found out they were completely rebuilt after the war. So yes it's possible, it will just depend on the will of the people and local governments on what gets rebuilt.

As for Frankfurt, i am not sure that was much of a major city before the war. Its mostly new because there was not much there before the war.