# Wildfires on Maui \[2023-08-10\]
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Tags:** breaking-news
**Created:** [August 10, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362 "2023-08-10T13:36:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/1 "2023-08-10T13:36:41Z")
My wife told me about this right before I fell asleep last night. Checking the news this morning, wow. The entire town of Lahaina is basically reduced to ashes. My wife was showing me a picture and saying “I remember walking down that street.” I said “Yeah, that’s where I bought my Hawaiian shirt” (which I’m wearing today).
> **[The wildfires scorching Maui have killed at least 53 people and reduced...](https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/10/us/maui-wildfires-hurricane-dora-thursday/index.html)**
>
> The catastrophic wildfires that have been scorching Maui for three days have killed at least 53 people, officials said Thursday – a number they expect will keep rising as search teams begin venturing into neighborhoods and homes that were reduced to...
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### Author:  [@Tride](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tride)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/2 "2023-08-10T13:47:45Z")
Truly tragic. Along with the human fatalities, the enormous banyan in the heart of town has burned, which gives you a sense of the extent. There’s another fire north of Kihei, which was mostly cane/pineapple last time I was there, but that was 15 years ago. That many fatalities in a wildfire is really unprecedented.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/3 "2023-08-10T13:54:49Z")
My niece, who lives on Oahu near Honolulu, texted us a link to some video people took from their cars while fleeing the wildfire. Either that fire moved fast, or they waited until the last minute to evacuate (or possibly both), because they were right in the middle of it! I assume they were able to get out safely if they were able to post the video, but yikes! That’s cutting it close.
And yeah, that banyan tree was freaking awesome. We got pictures of ourselves standing under it. What a shame.
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### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/4 "2023-08-10T14:12:33Z")
Terrible. The news was saying that Maui does not have the needed firefighting resources.
That banyan tree is iconic, and beautiful. Did it burn down? I searched on this and found news reports only saying it was scorched.
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### Author:  [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/5 "2023-08-10T14:42:10Z")
Here’s [a full report on Maui](https://www.civilbeat.org/2023/08/lahaina-emerges-from-devastating-fire-as-relief-begins-to-arrive/) from a website called Honolulu Civil Beat, which states that “The Lahaina Public Library has gone, but the banyan tree in the center of town is still standing despite damage to its trunks and limbs.”
Now, whether it can recover from that damage is another question.
The rest of the post is long, detailed, and the best on the ground reporting I’ve seen so far.
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### Author:  [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/6 "2023-08-10T15:39:44Z")
also online channel live
> **[Livestream](https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/livestream/)**
>
> Watch Hawaii News Now LIVE wherever you are or catch our newscasts on demand.
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### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/7 "2023-08-10T17:57:54Z")
It’s crazy and sad. My family has a lot of memories from Maui and enjoying the streets of Lahaina. One news story I read had footage from a helicopter and the scene at Lahaina is apocalyptic.
Since when do entire towns get consumed by flames? Paradise, CA, Coffee Park neighborhood in Santa Rosa, Greenville, CA, Lytton, BC, and now Lahaina, HI. Just crazy and sad.
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/8 "2023-08-10T18:13:53Z")
Maui was a frequent vacation spot for us for years, even had a timeshare in Kihei. This is terrifying. Not just the loss of memorable spots, but block after block of people’s homes entirely gone in the blink of an eye. I live in a semi-rural place in western Washington and it could absolutely happen to me.
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### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/9 "2023-08-10T19:15:45Z")
Do we have any dopers living there? I know we have some folks in Hawaii, but I’m not sure just where. Anybody know?
It’s just too awful to think about. What a terrible disaster.
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### Author:  [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/10 "2023-08-10T19:21:12Z")
Add Talent and Phoenix OR to the list.
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### Author:  [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/11 "2023-08-10T20:49:59Z")
> [@Bullitt](#):
>
> The news was saying that Maui does not have the needed firefighting resources.
No one has resources to fight a huge fire driven by 60-mph winds. The best you can do is evacuate people and wait for the wind to die down.
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/12 "2023-08-10T21:02:53Z")
IIRC @CairoCarol is on the big island. Not sure if we have any other Hawaii dopers.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/13 "2023-08-10T21:22:57Z")
I can’t find the article, but one I read earlier today interviewed a business owner in Lahaina, who claimed to have grown up on Maui, and lost her restaurant and another business she owned there, said, “_We’re going to need help from **America** now._”
Interesting. Not that we wouldn’t or shouldn’t declare a national emergency there, but does she consider herself and Hawaii part of America?
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### Author:  [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/14 "2023-08-10T21:23:12Z")
Before and after photos of Lahaina.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/maui/comments/15mp8f7/a\_video\_comparing\_lahaina\_before\_after\_this/](https://www.reddit.com/r/maui/comments/15mp8f7/a_video_comparing_lahaina_before_after_this/)
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### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/15 "2023-08-10T21:35:56Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#):
>
> Interesting. Not that we wouldn’t or shouldn’t declare a national emergency there, but does she consider herself and Hawaii part of America?
I’d cut her some slack given the circumstances - she probably was thinking _“We’re going to need help from the whole country now.”_
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### Author:  [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/16 "2023-08-10T22:02:55Z")
There’s nothing wrong with her phrasing. The mainland is America.
It’s a devastating situation. They get the hurricane winds that fanned the fires but will they get any rain from it?
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### Author:  [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/17 "2023-08-10T22:17:24Z")
> [@Shoeless](#):
>
> Not sure if we have any other Hawaii dopers.
Siam\_Sam, in spite of his name. I don’t know which island he’s on.
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### Author:  [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/18 "2023-08-10T22:21:27Z")
> [@chela](#):
>
> They get the hurricane winds that fanned the fires but will they get any rain from it?
Probably not in Lahaina.
Like the tradewinds, these hurricane-induced winds were easterly. Lahaina is on the dry, wind-shadowed west side of Maui, and thus gets little rain (about 15" per year, compared to 300+ on the east side of the island).
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### Author:  [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/19 "2023-08-10T22:31:08Z")
Oh right - he’s in or near Honolulu/Waikiki.
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### Author:  [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)
#### Post date: [August 10, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wildfires-on-maui-2023-08-10/988362/20 "2023-08-10T22:50:05Z")
Does anyone know what caused this? I’ve heard that lightning was the most likely cause.
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