In early August 2023, a series of wildfires broke out in the U.S. state of Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui. The wind-driven fires prompted evacuations and caused widespread damage, killing at least 101 people and leaving two persons missing in the town of Lahaina on Maui's northwest coast. The proliferation of the wildfires was attributed to dry, gusty conditions created by a strong high-pressure area north of Hawaii and Hurricane Dora to the south.
Image: Coast Guard Station Maui 7964748
Image: 2023 Maui fires Lahaina damage via Coast Guard
Image: FEMA 7977290
Image: Os lahaina town fire
Lahaina is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, United States. On the northwest coast of the island of Maui, it encompasses Lahaina town and the Kaanapali and Kapalua beach resorts. As of the 2020 census, Lahaina had a resident population of 12,702. The CDP spans the coast along Hawaii Route 30 from a tunnel at the south end, through Olowalu, and to the CDPs of Kaanapali and Napili-Honokowai to the north.
Downtown Lahaina on the waterfront prior to the 2023 fire
Depiction of Hawaiian warriors meeting Captain Cook off the coast of Lahaina
View of Waiola Church and the island of Mokuʻula and Mokuhinia, c. 1855
c. 1903–1910
