The New York Times reports that there was a new fire in Kaanapali (a town immediately north of Lahaina) near a county fueling station that was preparing to distribute fuel to residents. Evacuations were triggered. Maui County officials said the fire was 100% contained by 8:30 PM (2030) .
The image below shows an elevated signal in GOES Band 7 (3.9 microns, the “fire band”).
This image is from 1621 local time.
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I believe a lot of Hawaii public service radios are encrypted.
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Death toll 80 now…so very sad. Likely to exceed Paradise
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this is our understanding as well
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If your unfamiliar with Lahaina as I am, this video walking tour of Front Street puts into perspective the losses just in this relatively short walk.
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You are comparing a fire on Maui with a fire on the Big Island of Hawaii.
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These aren’t even the same island.
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A distinct set of challenges await communities and individual building owners responding to natural disasters, but those affected are not alone or without resources. In the wake of a disaster event, physical and institutional frameworks allow immediate, decisive, and coordinated action toward recovery. For cities, organizations, and homeowners preservation-integrated disaster plans are indispensable for the survival of these resources and the larger community. The resources below can help building owners plan ahead and respond quickly and effectively in order to minimize property damage and ensure a safe return home.
Disaster Recovery | National Trust for Historic Preservation (savingplaces.org)
PDF (informational) Fire Safety In Historic Buildings
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Once the emergency efforts stabilize, the multi year effort to rebuild will be a logistical challenge just to get the materials and equipment in place on the island, let alone the workforce. Rough.
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A perspective from another forum. He says former ag lands around town have been allowed to run wild along with invasive weeds. And then we get this, alignment of ignition, wind, and wooden town.
https://www.electriciantalk.com/threads/fire-on-front-street.297603/page-2#post-5628545
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I would recommend hearing Daniel Swain’s early perspective on it as well. Very informative. https://www.youtube.com/live/c62VoJqaEgw?feature=share
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Abandoned ag lands/rural flight is a huge problem in Spain, too. As country folk have moved to the cities, lands which never had fire problems because they were grazed down to the nub are burning. Wait a minute, that sounds like Butte County!
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Kula. FB chat guestimations around 40 structures destroyed.
Update 8/13: Upcountry Fire, NYT relaying that officials have a count of 16 structures destroyed in Kula and 3 structures destroyed in Olinda.
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I have a firefighter friends there. He told me it is very wind driven and flames remind him of the Panorama fire in North Park in 1981
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I would like to apologize to everyone on this thread and the forum for my stupid post about fires on the wrong island. I’m very sorry!
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As I remember it, those lands which has now turned to weeds were either in sugar cane or more likely (on the dry side) pineapple.
Those big ag companies now grow in less costly locales around the world. Leveraged buy-outs were at the root of it. It is all about those pennies per pound of product saved. And now the communities pay. And we all pay in taxes and lost culture. The hidden costs…the billions… are no longer hidden.
And how are the hedge funds?
And where are the business school professors who teach those tactics?
The hidden side of everything.
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Looking at the Maxar imagery of where at least one of the Lahaina fires started and spread, it looks like a lot of its initial spread to the south took place across old ag lands. I’m assuming the terracing in the images was from ag…
Looks like a lot of the initial spread to west and NW was into the urban area pretty quickly.
Google Earth Engine shows cropping on east side of Lahaina thru the 1980s.
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Is it just me or are “we” trying to go “cancel culture” over who/how each species of grass/brush got on the islands? At this point who cares. We’re not going to learn anything “new” from it and i’m sure we’ve seen the same thing in other locations around the globe. Hopefully those who aren’t in the business can understand that gale force winds immediately pushed that fire into the #StructureFuelModel. The primary carrier wasn’t the grass/brush it was the structures with all the exploding flying palms & roofs, fences, propane tanks, etc… >=97th Percentile event…
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