Maui Fires

[still-one]

I feel so bad for the residents of Maui County. Linda and I are very familiar with the Lahaina area having stayed there on at least 15 of our many trips to Hawaii. We normally stay in hotels along the Kaanapali coast or a condo in North Kaanapali, yet just about every evening we would head into Lahaina to eat, browse the galleries or just hang-out.

Seeing so many familiar buildings burned to the ground pulls at your heartstrings. Front Street was just a wonderful place to wander around.

Beyond the loss of so many lives there is the loss of these old historical buildings, the loss of jobs, so many homes, irreplaceable art……….

I am sure they will rebuild but it will never be the same. We will delay our planned early ‘24 trip, but we will back to support them when they open back-up.

[kzhtoo]

Our favorite restaurant, Star Noodle, is located in Lahaina.

It’s devastating for people of Maui.

[crwilli]

Absolute Tragedy. It’s about the people and their businesses, then the Banyan tree.

[Ritmo]

A terrible tragedy. The loss of life has been incredible. And, the images of the destruction are very sad.

[Puma Cat]

This tragedy is personally resonant for me because my sister lost her home and virtually everything she owned in the Camp Fire in Butte County in 2018. Much like Lahainia, Paradise, CA was completely devastated. What made matters worse was the back-story: after several days of high-winds prior to the fire, PG&&E had put out a number of safety announcements it may cut off the power to prevent the risk of wildfires. On the morning of the fire on November 8, 2018, it was learned that then-CEO Geisha Williams made the catastrophic decision at ~8AM on Nov. 8th, to leave the power ON, approximately 90 minutes AFTER the Camp Fire had started near Oroville Dam at approximately 06:30. It was discovered that the fire had started when, from the high winds, a power line blew off an open hook it was simply resting on on a transmission tower that was built in...1906. PG&E had already been under a lot of criticism from the public and their customers for not putting money into overhauling it's power grid infrastructure, but instead paying out millions of dollars in executive compensation.

I'll add that PG&E CEO Geisha Williams, who made the decision to leave the power on that day with catastrophic consequences, was "let go" by the PG&E Board was also paid millions of dollars in "executive severance", even though it was Williams who made the decision to leave the power on that day.....90 minutes after the fire had started.

[CPP]

So sad, we usually make a trip over for 2 weeks each year in Mid to late Jan to a home on the north shore in Haiku. We ate at Fleetwoods on Front st, last Jan had breakfast at Betty's Cafe both are gone. Heart breaking for the friends we have made over the last 14 years there, some lost their homes, their businesses, everything.

[NorthStar]

80 deaths, and it will climb.

How can you prevent a force of nature like that? Impossible; the violent winds of the hurricane Dora 800 miles away, in combination of the dry land ready to ignite.
The fire was traveling a football field per 20 secondes!

Devastating; 2,200 structures gone, $5.5 billion to rebuild, lives forever affected.
It's like an atomic bomb in your backyard.

Heart goes to them ...

[NorthStar]

I watched a live press conference this afternoon.
Confirmed deaths; 89 ... It is now more than the 2018 Paradise fire (Camp Fire) in California (85 deaths). But many are still missing; it's going to take time. Plus bodies were evaporated.

I also watched some survivors describing the ordeals, not from the press but from personal not to be broadcasted interviews. The impact is immediate and heart-wrenching. Life's gone, town of Lahaina gone in 17 minutes. That was super fast. It looks like some towns in Ukraine after the rain of Russian missiles...completely annihilated under the ashes. ...Iroshima and Nagasaki ... the atomic bombs...August 6 and 9, 1945.

I live on an island of the Canadian Pacific; it's going to get hot, very hot for the next few days.
40 Celsius won't be surprising on Monday. Plus we are in an extreme situation with our water supply. Our lawns are dry and yellow; it is illegal to water them.

Tough times for many in many places. Maui one of the most affected, and far from over with many (hundreds) missing.

Pray for them, play some music for them.

[Puma Cat]

I watched a live press conference this afternoon.
Confirmed deaths; 89 ... It is now more than the 2018 Paradise fire (Camp Fire) in California (85 deaths). But many are still missing; it's going to take time. Plus bodies were evaporated.

I also watched some survivors describing the ordeals, not from the press but from personal not to be broadcasted interviews. The impact is immediate and heart-wrenching. Life's gone, town of Lahaina gone in 17 minutes. That was super fast. It looks like some towns in Ukraine after the rain of Russian missiles...completely annihilated under the ashes. ...Iroshima and Nagasaki ... the atomic bombs...August 6 and 9, 1945.

I live on an island of the Canadian Pacific; it's going to get hot, very hot for the next few days.
40 Celsius won't be surprising on Monday. Plus we are in an extreme situation with our water supply. Our lawns are dry and yellow; it is illegal to water them.

Tough times for many in many places. Maui one of the most affected, and far from over with many (hundreds) missing.

Pray for them, play some music for them.

Bob, someone I follow as I have friends in the Pacific NW is Michael Snyder's Pacific Northwest Weather Watch.

He's predicting a major hot weather watch for the next week to 10 days.
Pacific NW Heat Wave and extended hope. - YouTube

He also does an excellent weather prediction for Caliornia. Michael is my "go-to guy" for weather forecasting on the West Coast.

[Lucidear]

Hi All,

I had previously noticed a couple members of this forum are from maui:
Maui Dan and mauidj
Hope they as well as the owner of underwood hifi who lives a few miles north of Lahaina are all safe and sound.