Ilihia Gionson, Public Affairs Officer with the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority, explains what this reopening means for the island of Maui. Oct. 6, 2023.
LAHIANA, Hawaii – Nearly two years after a wind-whipped wildfire on the Hawaiian island of Maui destroyed whole neighborhoods in Lahiana, dump trunks began moving about 400,000 tons of debris to the final disposal site this week.
This step comes as evacuations were lifted on the other side of the island due to another brush fire. The Kahikinui brush fire sparked Sunday, prompting officials to order evacuations for about 105 homesteads near mile markers 24 and 25 on Pi’ilani Highway (Hawaii Route 31).
As of Monday evening, the fire perimeter is about 330 acres and 93% contained, according to Maui County officials. Evacuation orders were lifted after firefighters were able to nearly contain the blaze.
In an aerial view, burned structures and cars are seen nearly two months after a devastating wildfire on October 07, 2023 in Lahaina, Hawaii.
(Mario Tama/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Meanwhile, on the western side of Maui, trucks began moving the equivalent of five football fields of debris, five-stories high, along Honoapiʻilani Highway (HI-30) from Olowalu to Māʻalaea and Kūihelani Highway.
Dump trucks moving Lahaina wildfire debris on Monday, June 15, 2025.
(FOX Weather)
Trucks identified with “Lahaina Wildfire Debris” will make multiple rounds a day for about five months to move the debris to the final disposal site, according to the County of Maui.
FIFTH-GENERATION HAWAIIAN LOSES HOME IN LAHAINA WILDFIRE
The debris contains the remains cleared from more than 1,580 residential and commercial properties in Lahaina, which were previously stored in Olowalu at a temporary site.
Maui County said the final debris location took months of evaluation by the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Health and the county before confirming no public health risk with the transport and placement of the debris.
In August 2023, Maui County experienced the deadliest fire in modern U.S. history and Hawaii’s worst natural catastrophe when wind-whipped fires swept through communities, including Lahaina, destroying everything in their path and claiming at least 102 lives in the coastal town.
