![]() ![]() The area burned annually in Hawaii by wildfires has been climbing fourfold from previous decades, according to Clay Trauernicht, a tropical fire specialist at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Those include big shifts in rainfall patterns over the archipelago and tourism’s eclipse of large-scale farming in Hawaii’s economy, allowing nonnative plants to overtake idled sugar cane and pineapple plantations.įirefighters also have to operate across exceptionally diverse climate zones, extinguishing blazes everywhere from thick tropical forests to semiarid scrublands to chilly elevations where frost can be seen on trees along the slopes of the Mauna Kea volcano. While the fires showcase several challenges that Hawaii shares with states in the West, including the spread of highly flammable invasive grasses, the authorities in Hawaii also cite other factors that make Hawaii unique. “This is the worst destructive thing that has happened in this town’s entire history,” she said. Most of the museum’s important documents have been preserved online, she said, and she is hoping that the island will restore at least some of the buildings when the fire abates.īut she is preparing herself for some major losses. ![]() The top floor had ancient Hawaiian things, things from the monarchy and plantation and whaling periods, objects from all of Lahaina’s eras.” “And so is the beautiful heritage museum we had there. “The Old Lahaina Courthouse roof is entirely gone,” Ms. Baldwin, a missionary and physician, had used to vaccinate much of Maui against smallpox. Dwight Baldwin had shipped all the way from their East Coast home in the 1830s, their son’s antique shell collection and the medical instruments that Dr. The home contained the wooden rocking chairs that the family of the Rev. The Baldwin Home, which houses the foundation’s main office, appears from news photos to have burned to the ground after its roof caught fire, she said. Tony Novak-Clifford for The New York Times For Hawaii residents, the town is a trove of history. In Maui County, there were more 12,600 electricity customers without power on Wednesday, according to the tracking site. ![]() The fires in Hawaii and Maui Counties had already burned hundreds of acres by Tuesday, Sylvia Luke, Hawaii’s acting governor, said in an emergency proclamation that activated the National Guard. The 911 emergency call service in West Maui was down early on Wednesday, and people were told to call the local police department directly instead, Maui County officials said. Two evacuation shelters closed because of the encroaching fire, and people inside were sent to new locations, Maui County officials said. Several parts of Maui were under evacuation orders. The Weather Service said that a red flag warning - indicating that critical fire conditions were occurring or would be shortly - was in effect for some areas of the Hawaiian islands. But as Hurricane Dora moves farther away, the winds should steadily ease and return to a typical moderate to breezy weather pattern Thursday into early next week, the Weather Service said. Rainfall has been dropping in the state for decades, drying out the lush landscape.ĭangerous wildfire weather conditions, with low humidity and strong winds, are expected to continue through the afternoon hours in Hawaii. Hawaii is better known for its tropical conditions and bouts of intense rain, but the islands have become increasingly prone to wildfire damage because of climate change. Roads into West Maui were closed to everyone except emergency workers on Wednesday morning, officials said, effectively cutting off access from outside to some of Hawaii’s best-known resorts. Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Lahaina, a West Maui coastal town of 12,000 that was once the royal capital of Hawaii and home to a famed banyan tree, is “almost totally burnt to the ground.” Others escaped by car, driving past flames in the shadow of the West Maui Mountains. On the western side of Maui, some residents fled by swimming into the ocean, where they were rescued by the U.S. Bissen, Jr., the mayor of Maui County, said at a news conference on Wednesday morning. More than 2,100 people were in evacuation shelters, Richard T. ![]()
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