What caused the fires in Maui 2023?

But Maui County, in its suit, blames Hawaiian Electric's power lines, and videos a Lahaina resident posted online the morning the fire erupted appear to show a downed electrical line on the edge of town sparking in the midst of burning grass.



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In early August 2023, a series of wildfires, referred to as the Hawaii Firestorm by the United States government, broke out in the U.S. state of Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui.

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Maui. On August 4, 2023, at 11:01am HST (UTC 21:01), the first of many small fires ignited on Maui. A 30-acre brush fire was reported adjacent to the Kahului Airport in a field. By 9:29 p.m. HST (UTC 07:29), the fire was reported 90% contained, but many flights out of the airport were delayed to August 11.

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The wildfires in Maui have burned thousands of acres since the blaze began earlier this month, and some of the fires were still partially contained as of Monday. The Lahaina fire – the most devastating of the blazes – burned an estimated 2,170 acres, the County of Maui said in a news release on Monday.

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How the Maui fires consumed Lahaina. The fires on Maui are the deadliest in 100 years of U.S. history. Officials have confirmed the deaths of more than 100 people, with about 1,300 still missing. In Lahaina, West Maui, more than 2,200 homes, apartment buildings and other structures were damaged or destroyed.

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It's not possible to visit Lahaina or any of the burned areas in West Maui. Hotels that were in Lahaina town were destroyed by the fires. The hotels further west of Lahaina town, in Kaanapali, Kapalua, and Napili areas, were not destroyed by the fires.

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Some victims were stuck in traffic, trying to escape, when the fire overtook their cars. The wildfires killed at least 97 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, most of them homes. Some survivors jumped over a sea wall and sheltered in the waves, as hot black smoke blotted out the sun.

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The good news is that much of Maui, including the popular Kaanapali Beach and Wailea, was not affected directly by the fire.

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According to CoStar data and hotel reporting, hotels and lodging accommodations in Lahaina that have sustained damage or been destroyed include:
  • The 34-room Best Western Pioneer Inn.
  • The Plantation Inn, a 18-room property.
  • The 13-room Hotel Lahaina.


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SAFETY MEASUREMENTS The state is open to Americans with no statewide COVID restrictions. Honolulu has a composite safety score of 70 from the GeoSure Global safety app, receiving high marks for LGBTQ safety and basic freedoms.

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DNA tests lower Maui fire death toll to at least 97 from 115 Officials previously said at least 115 people had died in the fire, but further testing showed they had multiple DNA samples from some of the victims. The number of those who are missing fell to 31.

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On Jan. 29, the U.S. Space Force spilled 700 gallons of diesel fuel at the Maui Space Surveillance Complex, a satellite tracking and research facility, after a fuel pump for a generator failed to shut off. The agency said a power surge during a lightning storm likely caused the failure.

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Since the County of Maui does not have sufficient storage and distribution capability to utilize all of the reclaimed wastewater produced on our islands, the excess is sent to the injection wells. The County of Maui wastewater treatment plants and injection wells reduce the impact of human waste on the environment.

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