High winds from a hurricane fed fires in Maui, HI. A fire swept through Lahaina Town. Once the capital of Hawaii this place was really popular with tourists and locals. I can't believe the amount of destruction that happened in less than 12 hours.

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[–] derf82@lemmy.world 70 points 11 months ago (4 children)

That black blob in the middle looks like the remains of the banyan tree, which was planted 150 years ago and covered 2/3rds of an acre. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina

Lahaina was probably my favorite town among the 4 Hawaiian islands I’ve been to. Very sad. Hope they can rebuild.

[–] SpacetimeMachine@lemmy.world 15 points 11 months ago

Oh man that makes me sad. I remember seeing that when I was 12 on a trip there and it being the coolest tree I had ever seen.

[–] instamat@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Yeah, that husk of a building to the left of the banyan tree was a museum. That sucks, that whole area was so nice, tons of shops, restaurants, lots of homes, I think that was a school in the bottom right corner.

[–] realbaconator@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

I have childhood memories in this town, the tree really sticks with you, and the heritage there is/was quite notable. Very sad to see this unfold over the last few days.

[–] Madison420@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

Iirc banyons are phoenix plants, they like fire.

[–] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com 31 points 11 months ago

Any time you have to jump into the sea to avoid the flames it's bad. It's very bad.

[–] HangryHobbit@sh.itjust.works 30 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Video of someone trying to evacuate Lahaina last night, pretty apocalyptic: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvt93fktqtZ/

[–] obviouspornalt@lemmynsfw.com 12 points 11 months ago

That's a literal firestorm.

[–] Landmammals@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

Holy fuck.

I've been on the Internet for almost 30 years and that's one of the most intense videos I've ever seen.

[–] bbmb@kbin.social 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Even as a person who's gone through the Almeda fires in Southern Oregon, this is one of the most horrifying videos I've watched. The entire area seems to be engulfed in flames, I hope everyone is able to evacuate safely.

[–] clanginator@lemmy.world 17 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I know a flight attendant who was scheduled to fly there today. The hotel they would've stayed at burned down.

Really awful to see. Hope there's minimal loss of life and they're able to rebuild quick, but I know there's gotta be a lot lost regardless.

[–] CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Goddamn, my wife and I honeymooned there.

[–] eestileib@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ditto

[–] transientpunk@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Ditto

[–] nonfuinoncuro@lemm.ee 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I too honeymooned with Cerulran's wife there...

[–] transientpunk@sh.itjust.works 2 points 11 months ago

Honeymooning with Cerulran's wife is just a right of passage these days

[–] ebits21@lemmy.ca 1 points 11 months ago

Same

[–] PaulDevonUK@lemmy.world 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

News report with video from a businessman who lost his shop and probably multiple other properties.

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[–] NewNewAccount@lemmy.world 9 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Is this the main/tourist part of Lahaina? It’s been hard to understand how much damage has been done and where.

[–] JoeHill@lemmy.world 16 points 11 months ago

Yes. See that big black smoldering mess behind that white building? That is (was?) the Banyan Tree. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

Other pics I've seen look like a 90-100% loss of structures.

[–] ShustOne@lemmy.one 4 points 11 months ago

Yes unfortunately it looks like the entire town is gone

[–] ShustOne@lemmy.one 8 points 11 months ago

Photo credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cvu8uRXPU_6/?img_index=1

[–] spaysi@sh.itjust.works 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I’m from Maui, and most of my family lives on the island... the last several days have been really really hard. My home will never be the same, some of what burned down is absolutely irreplaceable, and the loss of life is truly awful

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

Beautiful place - this is just so sad.

[–] PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

This is really sad: https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/national-international/hawaii-wildfires-lahaina-maui/4577854/

[–] SilentSeven@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

Was on Maui last August and of course spent time in Lahina. Walked all the marina docks. Surfed the break with my daughter. So many friendly shop owners and workers.

My thoughts go out to all the locals who've lost everything. It's just....unimaginable.

[–] ethman42@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

I was just walking along Front Street a few weeks ago. It was so cool. This is devastating.

[–] AttackBunny@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

As a San Diegan, who has seen their fair share of fires in their lifetime, my heart goes out to everyone affected. It’s a terrible, terrifying thing to experience, that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Especially, with no where to go.

[–] cooljacob204@kbin.social 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (5 children)

How could this have happened? Shouldn't all the building codes we have effectively prevent something like this???

[–] nero@lemmy.world 23 points 11 months ago

Lahaia town is a historic town (as stated in the article), so i assume they did not yet have the same standards as they do today yet.

[–] HangryHobbit@sh.itjust.works 16 points 11 months ago

Lahaina was a old historic town, many of the buildings weren't updated to code. Especially on Front Street where most of the damage seems to be

[–] ShustOne@lemmy.one 6 points 11 months ago

Lots of historic buildings here but even if they were up to today's standards they wouldn't have had a chance. This fire was fueled by drought and 80mph winds. California has tons of new buildings that burn down with winds half that speed. It was just a crazy force moving through.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 2 points 11 months ago

Do sea lions live in Hawaii?

[–] ebits21@lemmy.ca 1 points 11 months ago

Keep in mind Lahaina is laid out like a long thin strip between the ocean and a bypass road.

Wildfire came from the other side of the bypass and came towards the ocean. So likely hit the whole town all at once. Front street is the Main Street parallel to the ocean and cars would get stuck in a traffic jam easily.

Wouldn’t take long for the fire to cross the bypass and make it all the way to the ocean.