this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023

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Lahaina, Hawaii (Maui) has been completely destroyed by fires (lemmy.one)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

34 comments fedilink hide all child comments

High winds from a hurricane fed fires in Maui, HI. A fire swept through Lahaina Town. Once the capital of Hawaii this place was really popular with tourists and locals. I can't believe the amount of destruction that happened in less than 12 hours.

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[–] [email protected] 70 points 1 year ago (4 children)

That black blob in the middle looks like the remains of the banyan tree, which was planted 150 years ago and covered 2/3rds of an acre. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina

Lahaina was probably my favorite town among the 4 Hawaiian islands I’ve been to. Very sad. Hope they can rebuild.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Oh man that makes me sad. I remember seeing that when I was 12 on a trip there and it being the coolest tree I had ever seen.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah, that husk of a building to the left of the banyan tree was a museum. That sucks, that whole area was so nice, tons of shops, restaurants, lots of homes, I think that was a school in the bottom right corner.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

I have childhood memories in this town, the tree really sticks with you, and the heritage there is/was quite notable. Very sad to see this unfold over the last few days.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Iirc banyons are phoenix plants, they like fire.

[–] HangryHobbit 33 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Video of someone trying to evacuate Lahaina last night, pretty apocalyptic: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvt93fktqtZ/

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

That's a literal firestorm.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Holy fuck.

I've been on the Internet for almost 30 years and that's one of the most intense videos I've ever seen.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 1 year ago

Any time you have to jump into the sea to avoid the flames it's bad. It's very bad.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I know a flight attendant who was scheduled to fly there today. The hotel they would've stayed at burned down.

Really awful to see. Hope there's minimal loss of life and they're able to rebuild quick, but I know there's gotta be a lot lost regardless.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Goddamn, my wife and I honeymooned there.

[–] eestileib 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ditto

[–] transientpunk 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Ditto

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I too honeymooned with Cerulran's wife there...

[–] transientpunk 3 points 1 year ago

Honeymooning with Cerulran's wife is just a right of passage these days

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Same

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

News report with video from a businessman who lost his shop and probably multiple other properties.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Is this the main/tourist part of Lahaina? It’s been hard to understand how much damage has been done and where.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

Yes. See that big black smoldering mess behind that white building? That is (was?) the Banyan Tree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Other pics I've seen look like a 90-100% loss of structures.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Yes unfortunately it looks like the entire town is gone

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Photo credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvu8uRXPU_6/?img_index=1

[–] spaysi 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I’m from Maui, and most of my family lives on the island... the last several days have been really really hard. My home will never be the same, some of what burned down is absolutely irreplaceable, and the loss of life is truly awful

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Was on Maui last August and of course spent time in Lahina. Walked all the marina docks. Surfed the break with my daughter. So many friendly shop owners and workers.

My thoughts go out to all the locals who've lost everything. It's just....unimaginable.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Beautiful place - this is just so sad.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I was just walking along Front Street a few weeks ago. It was so cool. This is devastating.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

As a San Diegan, who has seen their fair share of fires in their lifetime, my heart goes out to everyone affected. It’s a terrible, terrifying thing to experience, that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Especially, with no where to go.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

How could this have happened? Shouldn't all the building codes we have effectively prevent something like this???

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

Lahaia town is a historic town (as stated in the article), so i assume they did not yet have the same standards as they do today yet.

[–] HangryHobbit 17 points 1 year ago

Lahaina was a old historic town, many of the buildings weren't updated to code. Especially on Front Street where most of the damage seems to be

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Lots of historic buildings here but even if they were up to today's standards they wouldn't have had a chance. This fire was fueled by drought and 80mph winds. California has tons of new buildings that burn down with winds half that speed. It was just a crazy force moving through.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Do sea lions live in Hawaii?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Keep in mind Lahaina is laid out like a long thin strip between the ocean and a bypass road.

Wildfire came from the other side of the bypass and came towards the ocean. So likely hit the whole town all at once. Front street is the Main Street parallel to the ocean and cars would get stuck in a traffic jam easily.

Wouldn’t take long for the fire to cross the bypass and make it all the way to the ocean.