Kula Wildfire News Today

The County’s new Recovery Permitting Center is slated to open April 29, 2024, in Kahului, and a satellite location is in the works for Lahaina, the County of Maui announced Saturday.

The Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee will receive a presentation at its meeting Tuesday at 9 a.m. regarding the wildfire impacts and forecasts on Maui County’s economy from the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization.

Established in the wake of wildfires that burned more than 200 acres in Kula, the Kula Community Watershed Alliance has convened neighbors, local leaders, and subject matter experts to develop a unified plan to support the land’s recovery from the fires, including stabilizing and regenerating the disturbed soil, restoring and protecting native plants and animals, and stewarding the long-term vitality of the land.

Needs identified in the Kula assessment survey included expedited permitting, insurance, mental health, health of neighbors not directly affected by the fires, soil testing and watershed health.

Kupu ‘Āina Corps, a program formed to restore lands and communities affected by the wildfires on Maui and Hawaii Island, is now accepting applications for participants and host sites. Participants may apply for paid, career-building experiences with additional benefits. Organizations engaged in wildfire recovery and resiliency efforts on Maui and Hawai’i Island may apply as host sites.

Due to unpredictable weather conditions and forecasted adverse weather that may create unsafe road conditions, the community meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. at Kula Elementary School this evening (Jan. 16, 2024) has been canceled.

The Maui ERC was formed in response to the wildfires that devastated Lahaina and Kula and is led by co-chairs James Kunane Tokioka, DBEDT Director, and Luana Mahi, OED Director.

A team of University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa researchers are asking Maui residents to participate in a study to analyze the short- and long-term health effects of exposure to the deadly wildfires that destroyed Lahaina and parts of Kula. Registration begins Jan. 5, 2024.

Weekly air sampling conducted by the Hawaiʻi Department of Health in Kula continues to show good air quality.

The US Environmental Protection Agency today reports it has completed its work under Phase 1 of the federal response to the wildfires in Lahaina and the Upcountry Maui communities.