Wildfires in Hawaii..

[Silas_Sancona]

Wanted to post this here for those who may not have heard..  A pretty bad situation unfolding on Maui atm.. Appears there are other fires on some of the other islands as well.  Not good.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/08/09/coast-guard-joins-brush-fire-response-lahaina-where-crews-continue-battle-wind-whipped-flames/

[Silas_Sancona]

6 minutes ago, Silas_Sancona said:

Wanted to post this here for those who may not have heard..  A pretty bad situation unfolding on Maui atm.. Appears there are other fires on some of the other islands as well.  Not good.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/08/09/coast-guard-joins-brush-fire-response-lahaina-where-crews-continue-battle-wind-whipped-flames/

Another article w/ more details regarding current fire activity:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/climate/article/hawaii-maui-fire-map-18287393.php

[Cindy Adair]

 

This news photo shows the fire directly in the path of the downhill bike ride I took with two other IPS members at the IPS pretour.
 

I visited all the little shops shown in that photo when we stopped for lunch.

 

So sad.

 

         For those of you who know IPS Director Mary Lock (who lives in Maui), she just emailed and her family and property are OK.

[Tracy]

Very sad.  Have a close friend that lost his father's house to the fire in Lahaina.  Sounds like his entire neighborhood went up.  Fire's in Kula and Kihei areas as well.  Been texting with my business partner who is vacationing and visiting family on the island.

[sandgroper]

It's been on the news here, our Commonwealth Government has offered to send Australian fire-fighters to help if required.

[Silas_Sancona]

29 minutes ago, sandgroper said:

It's been on the news here, our Commonwealth Government has offered to send Australian fire-fighters to help if required.

Can't confirm, but had heard rumblings that CA may send in Fire fighting resources  as well.

[JLM]

Hurricane Dora was partly responsible for these fires, but obviously not directly. 

With strong high pressure north of Hawaii and Hurricane Dora passing well south of the islands, it created a strong pressure gradient over the islands which prompted High Wind Warnings across the islands (for wind gusts between 45 and 60 mph). Very dry air from the SW US was pushed west southwest towards the islands, which caused humidity values to drop significantly. With the combination of strong winds, low RH, and dry antecedent conditions caused by the -PDO along with warm temperatures, it created a perfect recipe for fire activity especially on the leeward side of the islands. With winds being as strong as they were, it created for extreme fire behavior. As Dora continues to push west, these winds will die down further.

It is now confirmed that 36 have died there. Thoughts and prayers for Hawaii.

[flplantguy]

Having lived where this can happen (and ran from one in a car) its one of my biggest fears.  The news this morning is terrible.  The weather this year has been insane and im sure many people are over it. From the 2020 bush fires to now... what next? 

[Cindy Adair]

Anybody heard from Kona area?

[PalmatierMeg]

So terrible. We visited Maui in the 80s. Strolled the streets of Lahaina and bought two Christian Riese Lassen serigraphs in a gallery/shop. Heartbreaking to see what happened to that town.

[Dypsisdean]

6 hours ago, Cindy Adair said:

Anybody heard from Kona area?

Cindy - as you know, the weather here is very "local" - varying drastically even within a few miles. And "Kona" is a very large area.

Amazingly, Upslope Kona has been having very wet weather this year. And coastal Kona is its normal calm dry climate. But the Northern leeward area of the BIg Island has been extremely dry for months. Same with leeward Maui. Combined with the unusually strong rare dry winds that hit those areas, they became tinder boxes, and fire crews could not drop water, and access via the few roads made things very bad. There were/are fires in the Kohala area of the Big Island, but most all of Kona is calm and safe.

But I expect more bad news from Maui. And I hear there are still some fires in Kohala, but all the attention is on Maui - and rightfully so.

BTW - Mike and Mary are safe.

 

 

[Cindy Adair]

So glad to hear from you Dean.

I only had a vague idea of how close your property is to the spots of red (indicating fire) on the Big Island maps shown on National media. 
 

Happily Mary Lock emailed the IPS Directors early on. 
 

Our hearts go out to everyone in Hawaii.

[kinzyjr]

Awful news in a year that has seen its share of less than enviable circumstances.

[WestCoastGal]

On 8/9/2023 at 10:37 PM, Silas_Sancona said:

Can't confirm, but had heard rumblings that CA may send in Fire fighting resources  as well.

I heard that in the news too. Hawaii sent Calif firefighters during a recent wildfire here and sadly even lost one of its team to the fire. On today’s news I heard about 13 Red Cross volunteers being headed there (one volunteer mentioned with her dog), the Gov deployed around 40 of the state’s urban search-and-rescue specialists, coming from Oakland, Riverside, and Sacramento.
 

It’s been years but we had a great time visiting Lahaina, walking Front Street shops, enjoyed the shade under the banyan tree, ate pizza at what was I think BJ’s two story restaurant back then, took the sub ride from there. Fun times. We also spent time vacationing in Kihei and drove upcountry to Haleakala. With this fire happening at night and with no sirens you know many, many never had a chance to leave. Heart breaking to see so much destruction and knowing loss of life and a way of life is gone. Such a proud community I know will rebuild but never be quite the same. 
 

I hate to say it but looking at the burnt out desolate land and seeing so many people in shelters brought back thoughts of Leilani Estates and that whole section of the Big Island.

[Silas_Sancona]

8 minutes ago, WestCoastGal said:

I heard that in the news too. Hawaii sent Calif firefighters during a recent wildfire here and sadly even lost one of its team to the fire. On today’s news I heard about 13 Red Cross volunteers being headed there (one volunteer mentioned with her dog), the Gov deployed around 40 of the state’s urban search-and-rescue specialists, coming from Oakland, Riverside, and Sacramento.
 

It’s been years but we had a great time visiting Lahaina, walking Front Street shops, enjoyed the shade under the banyan tree, ate pizza at what was I think BJ’s two story restaurant back then, took the sub ride from there. Fun times. We also spent time vacationing in Kihei and drove upcountry to Haleakala. With this fire happening at night and with no sirens you know many, many never had a chance to leave. Heart breaking to see so much destruction and knowing loss of life and a way of life is gone. Such a proud community I know will rebuild but never be quite the same. 

It's a very tough ..and tough to fathom  situation..  I mean, in all honesty, for a second, when i first heard about the fires ( on Daniel Swain's Weather West blog page )  ..let alone the one in Lahaina, i through someone might be exaggerating a little..   I mean, yes, that side of the island is dry,  but, who would imagine such an event ..On par w/ some of the recent, similar-scale fire events in CA of late, could occur anywhere  in Hawaiian islands..

I also can't imagine having to retreat -into the ocean- just to survive something so unexpected.  The stories from the big urban-interface fire events in CA have been wild enough.  As far as any warning systems, i imaging that even if sirens did go off, i'm sure there are many people who might have thought i were a test, or some kind of joke meaning those sirens might have been ignored until the danger was too close to ignore. ..and at that point, it could be too late to take necessary action.

Unfortunately, this has shown all of us that such things can happen, anywhere.  ...And that, no matter where someone lives,  they need to think about.. and have a plan for  any possible natural- related disaster ... No matter how remote the chances of it actually happening are.

While i myself have never been able to visit, my mom has been there ..and we have extended extended family there. Pretty sure that side of the family has land on Maui also. My grandma was able to get a hold of relatives in some other areas -they're fine- but they're having trouble reaching other relatives that live in the area ..or nearby.. While i may not really know those people, ( never visited relatives in CA much ) i certainly hope they are fine..

Agree, while it will be rebuilt, the area will never be exactly the same ..which is a loss to which no words can describe the significance of.

I do hope that as Lahiana is re-developed, the casual view reflects how it looked ..just developed with more modern ideas employed  ..in the sense that buildings / infrastructure .. the way the city itself is laid out is built to withstand ..even the remotest possibility  that something similar could occur again at any point in the future..  It can be done.

As for the Banyan, i'm rooting for it.. Ficus  are fairly tough. It may suffer some serious damage, but, if there is any live wood, esp. lower down on the tree / at / just below it's base ( ..if the top ends up being a total loss ) it could definitely re sprout from there.. Hopefully, it won't come down to starting from there again though.

[WestCoastGal]

I’m surprised they wouldn’t have used the siren system. I thought it was used all along the island coasts for tsunami warnings to get to higher ground. Everyone there knew what the sirens meant. Remember staying in Hilo and also north of Lahaina at the coasts where we saw signage or read in hotel literature about the alert system and have a recollection of hearing it tested once. This was years ago but it worked. I know the phone alert system in Leilani Estates and areas affected by the lava eruptions had residents claiming back then that the phone system wasn’t reliable. Heck even here in the States 911 systems go down. Sometimes the old fashioned systems just work better. 
 

I’ve been looking for news about Kihei but haven’t seen anything. 

Just located this drone footage over north Kihei Tuesday night. So many small fires can be seen. (Credit: “Clint Hansen, Maui Luxury Real Estate LLC via Spectee”. Video Location: North Kihei, Maui County, Hawaii, US Video Recording Date/Time: August 8, 2023 at about 23:30h)  If a grocery ad starts to play I found refreshing the window brought you back to the drone video. 

https://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news/national/us-aerial-footage-of-brush-fires-in-kihei-maui-hawaii/video_a67ee5d5-2b5c-563e-a917-a85f73dd7bf7.html

[WestCoastGal]

I also found this interactive map of the before and after wildfire in Lahaina posted to KTVU2’s website but you’ll want to access it on a laptop not your phone. The article says there are bookmarks on the site to see Kihei, Pukulani, and Central Maui. 

https://ktvu.com/news/maui-fire-interactive-map-shows-before-and-after-images-allows-readers-to-search-an-adress

[Silas_Sancona]

13 minutes ago, WestCoastGal said:

I’m surprised they wouldn’t have used the siren system. I thought it was used all along the island coasts for tsunami warnings to get to higher ground. Everyone there knew what the sirens meant. Remember staying in Hilo and also north of Lahaina at the coasts where we saw signage or read in hotel literature about the alert system and have a recollection of hearing it tested once. This was years ago but it worked. I know the phone alert system in Leilani Estates and areas affected by the lava eruptions had residents claiming back then that the phone system wasn’t reliable. Heck even here in the States 911 systems go down. Sometimes the old fashioned systems just work better. 
 

I’ve been looking for news about Kihei but haven’t seen anything. 

Hard to say but can imagine a situation where the fire could have damaged power to them without anyone noticing before the situation became more serious.. .Again though, that's just a casual thought.  Have heard that there have been some concerns regarding how well / not so well some of the sirens were working in some areas recently too.

Agree w/ what you mention regarding the system overall.. My grandma was in the 1946 Tsunami and would mention how everyone that lived there took the sirens seriously after they were installed.

[WestCoastGal]

I understand the need to house displaced residents in hotels and B&B’s and opening up homes to those in need. I have wondered if maybe arrangements with a cruiseline company to provide housing onboard would make sense and it could stay temporarily/permanently docked in Hilo Harbor if that’s a possibility. I also recognize that Maui will be losing tourism dollars and jobs and need some way to try to achieve all the goals as impossible as it seems now. Either residents are housed onboard or visitors to the island would be there. Don’t see the government being able to fund all the rebuilding. I hope people will support the islands and Maui with relief donations and merchandise purchases. Two years in a row we ordered Christmas candy and cookies as family/friend gifts from the Big Island to help after the eruption. Will be doing same again this year. 
 

Seeing coverage of the fires hits home for us as a few years ago we were surrounded by 3 large fires in the Calif mountains around us. Neighborhoods in our town were evacuated then and it was a restless night listening to choppers overhead and listening for evacuation news but fortunately the winds changed course for us. I can’t begin to imagine a whole town turned to ashes but it has happened here too. So many countries around the world are experiencing devastating fires it’s scary thinking what this will mean for everyone in one way or another. Not sure insurance companies will survive. 

[Hillizard]

Not to minimize the human tragedy on Maui, but for those on this tree forum here's some video about the historic banyan (Ficus) tree in Lahaina.

https://twitter.com/accuweather/status/1690024473175490560?s=20

 

[Hillizard]

11 hours ago, Hillizard said:

https://twitter.com/maziehirono/status/1690593692388851712?s=20

11 hours ago, Hillizard said:

Not to minimize the human tragedy on Maui, but for those on this tree forum here's some video about the historic banyan (Ficus) tree in Lahaina.

https://twitter.com/accuweather/status/1690024473175490560?s=20

https://twitter.com/maziehirono/status/1690593692388851712?s=20

 

 

https://twitter.com/maziehirono/status/1690593692388851712?s=20

 

 

[happypalms]

My condolences to the people of Hawaii I live in area in Australia that can and does have wildfires when you see the sky go red you know it’s time to think fast I have sprinklers on my roof a water tank full of water and a firefighter pump and taps in every direction up to 25 taps with hoses on my property if needed I can fight a fire but if it’s catastrophic conditions iam starting the pump up putting the sprinklers on and getting out leaving it to the gods to see what I have to return too no amount of preparation can withstand a crown fire only intelligence saying get out now I prepare my property all winter back burning making fire breaks cleaning whatever I need to do to prepare my property just remain calm stay low and seek shelter wet woollen  blankets a water supply a wet woollen face mask googles long pants and shirt good boots and most importantly a calm manner prepare act survive