From Hawai’i’ With Love: Survival and Restoration After the Lahaina Wildfire
Lahaina Community Land Trust (LCLT) staff gathered earlier this year with ‘ohana, friends and supporters to bless the first parcel held in community ownership, which will one day be built out with a main house and two ‘ohana units.
On the morning of August 8, 2023, Noelle Bali and Marina Riker received routine alerts of nearby fires. It was another dry summer and 60 mph winds rattled Lahaina, a coastal beach town in Maui.
Downed power lines sparked a small fire which soon engulfed the town, leaving 102 residents dead and thousands forced to evacuate — including Noelle and Marina. What started as a relatively normal day became one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history, leaving a beloved community searching for a way forward.
Today, Noelle and Marina are paving a path toward healing through the Lahaina Community Land Trust (LCLT), a nonprofit committed to safeguarding Lahaina families from displacement and leverage disaster relief to foster permanent stability.
In the aftermath of the fire that destroyed over 2,000 structures and severely impacted thousands of families, the LCLT has become a vital force in wildfire recovery efforts. Guided by fire survivors and those with generational 'ike of this special place, their programs ensure that community members receive the care and support they deserve.
We spoke with Noelle, Kalua'ehu Program Manager, and Marina, Communications Manager, dedicated LCLT members about how they're channeling their own experiences as fire survivors into advocacy for human rights, housing justice and land protection in post-fire Lahaina.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Waiola Church and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street in Lahaina on August 8. Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP
What were your days like as the fires unfolded in Lahaina in August of 2023? What did you, your family and others in the community experience?
Noelle: To paint a picture, that morning, there was a fire in Lahaina where the winds were howling like we've never seen before. Not long after, a fire also started in Kula upcountry where Marina is. And so our phones just kept pinging nonstop with a “fire here”, “fire there.” Our resources were spread really thin and our firefighters were fighting these two fires.
I lost power where I live at around 4pm. So at that point, all I could really see was just big gray clouds. And it was that evening when my first family members started showing up at my house. My home became a haven for a lot of our family, because the roads were closed heading to the other side of the island.
I had about 80 family members displaced and then I had a bunch of friends showing up shortly after. The next few days were kind of doomsday; just waiting for some sort of information.
We didn't really know the effect of the fire, nor its impact until a few days later. I had gone in with a friend and her partner to her home and tried to recover anything we could, but there was really nothing. Everything was still smoldering, we didn't have any government assistance really, I set myself up at Kahana Boat Ramp and I started intaking resources.
Marina: We actually evacuated twice that day, once from our house, in Kula and then in a community called Kihei, in a neighborhood where my mom lives. We received an evacuation order at 11:45 at night. So we had to then evacuate our six collective cats, our dog, my grandpa, my mom, my sister, my husband and I and then ended up going to a friend's house, way up high on the mountain where we could basically see all of the fires burning. And that was the only way I'd really get information — it was to literally see it. And it was a little different where I was because we only lost, I think, two dozen homes, in my neighborhood.
It technically wasn't safe for us to go there the next morning, but we did. Our house was still actively burning at that point. So we ended up leaving again. I have horses. So the day prior, we had evacuated a bunch of horses.
After the fire, I spent most of my time hauling gallons of water for horses. I remember needing to get closed-toed shoes because I didn't have any. And when we had evacuated from my mom's house, I forgot a go bag because I was trying to wrangle everyone.
So it was literally just getting the basic shit: shoes and a bra...that was my few days. So it’s one of those things where I hope we never again have to live through.
How have you, your family and loved ones been coping since the fires almost two years ago?
Noelle: It's quite a mess, I would say. I had a bunch of family leave. The FEMA situation was a blessing and I guess, a curse as well. There were people constantly moving. So if you're assigned a FEMA home, sometimes you didn't know how long you were there for. In our case, on the West Side, we were in a lot of the resorts.
And so, you didn't know if you get a notice that day saying that you had to leave or two weeks from then. So there was just so much uncertainty. That led a lot of my family leaving Hawai’i or moving to neighboring islands for a while. Just until things settled at least a little bit.
I think the first anniversary felt a lot like survival mode to me and I think this is the first time I'm really starting to process, especially as we approach the second one, because there's so much that has changed and so much that has not. We had 1,200 homes that have burnt down and only 30 or so completed. I know we're actively building 200, so that just shows the scale of how little has been done.
I would say coping in every way you can. There's been a lot of community events for me. The ocean has been the best coping mechanism. I’ve appreciated being with my family and in the ocean as much as possible, and just trying to figure out every day, what the future might hold, what it looks like.
Marina: Between Kula and Lahaina, we didn’t have the same level of devastation to utilities and all of the things that literally make it possible to rebuild a community.
We were renting and my former landlord is one of those guys that I think even in the worst situation would somehow figure out how to make it work. He's a police officer for the Maui Police Department and figured out how to build a house. We lived with my mom for a while and then found a new place in Kula. We were able to actually come back to our community really quickly.
The thing that I think is important to note, that I don't think is talked about enough, is the extent to which trauma changes everyone's brain. We have what's called traumatic grief, which is basically when you're grieving the loss of all of these things. But then at the same time, you have acute PTSD symptoms, which is extra fun. And I think that's something that isn't talked about enough. My PTSD is a little bit better than it was last year, but it's still pretty awful. And I think most people are also dealing with that too. We're all still standing. I think we've all learned how to carry and live with that trauma and grief a little.
We’ve learned how to live with it. Because I know for me, it really wasn't until the last six months I would have these moments where it just went out when I was just doing whatever, going in the grocery store, being in my house, where I'd question “how is this real?” Look around more and tell myself, “this is real.”
I have this new house. I have these new clothes. It really takes your brain a very long time to cope with that extent of loss. So I think that's the thing that it's our brains are all still pretty fucked up for the lack of a better word.
Noelle: I would even like to say that I’ve been hyper alert. We just had a tsunami warning just a couple days ago. I believe it was an 8.7 or so magnitude earthquake off of Russia and so we were put on a tsunami warning.
“...our brains are just wired a little bit differently now. ”
If it's not the fire, it's not the wind, but it's just like, “woah.” Any kind of warning or anything, even if it's just hearing sirens jumps my cortisol levels and stress is so high because I'm already accounting for my people. There are a lot of people who commute for work, including ourselves. And so that puts us 45 minutes at least away from our own home and hometown. And so, I’m accounting for my people. I'm wondering where my go bag is, where all my important documents are? And asking what’s really necessary? When was the last time I took footage of my home because of insurance purposes? And so, our brains are just wired a little bit differently now.
There are parts of town thatI still haven't accessed because I lost family in the fire as well. I can look that way and I start to already feel the oncoming wave of emotions. I've tried to approach it and to this day haven't. There are things that I'm okay with and there are things I'm not. I guess it depends on the hour and the day. But, yeah. Still fucked up.
LCLT Board President Mikey Burke lost her home in the Lahaina fire and hopes to bring future stability to her community through her work with the land trust.
Lahaina has a special beauty and rich history. What aspects of the community and Maui are most meaningful to you, particularly now that so much has changed?
Noelle: I've always been so proud and prideful to call Lahaina my home because of the community aspect of Lahaina.
I've always said that “there's nothing like it.” And it was really confirmed after the fire. This community brings me a bit of calm even though this is so wild to say if it had to happen to any city, any place in Hawai’i, it makes sense to me that it was Lahaina because we have, I feel, the most resilient people on Maui. Lahaina was previously the capital of the Kingdom Of Hawai’i. Is that correct, Marina?
Marina: Yeah, it was the capital of the kingdom. The political and the spiritual capital. So this is where our ali'i, our royalty, are buried.
Hawai’i at one point was the most literate nation. Lahaina Luna was the first high school west of the Rockies. There’s so much history here. I believe Lahaina will be able to heal in a way that will show other grieving communities how it's possible to build a brighter future due to the innate power that lies within this place and its people.
I read there's a $4 billion state settlement that's meant to support the rebuilding. What are the biggest obstacles to this rehabilitation and restoration process and what can streamline it?
Marina: The $4 billion settlement, I think, has gotten a tremendous amount of press, but is not actually helping people in the way we need it to. As a plaintiff, my understanding is that folks are only going to get about 50 to 60% of what you actually lost in monetary value and it's going to be divided over the course of four years. So that means the first payouts only start this year in the last quarter.
So you're talking about literally just 50 to 60% of your recoup over six years after the date of the event. So it's such bullshit. It makes me upset because they could have done it. Did none of the attorneys think about this?
Essentially, the help that is designed to help isn't helping so far. And that's where the Land Trust is doing all that we can. The county of Maui also received $1.56 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds, which I am more hopeful about. I think it’s hopefully going to help people rebuild faster than the fire settlement will. But even that, you still may be talking about a year or so to get money into folks' hands, which, the two-year mark is where the statute of limitations runs out for you to be able to sue your insurance company. My understanding is that if a majority of the plaintiffs don't sign on, then the settlement is void.
LCLT staff and friends gathered at mālama 1651 Lokia Street, the first ʻāina secured into community ownership.
Looking ahead, what are your hopes and visions for La Jena's restoration? How can the rebuilding process reflect the needs and the cultural heritage of the residents?
Noelle: I think we're doing a really good job with this, as far as community organizing and demanding that the Lahaina voices are front and center, heard and implemented.
There's so much planning and strategic work that we can do, strategic thinking around how to build a more balanced community, one that isn't so reliant on the tourism industry and commercialization of the historic district, which is Lahaina Lahaina town itself. But, we'll also need a lot of the county to see this thinking through. We can dream all we want, but we'll need the county support to make some of this happen.
So I would say my hopes and visions are high and with the community members actively working on a more balanced community, whatever that looks like — one that’s heavily integrated with Hawaiian culture.
Marina: I do think that this is the beautiful part about what's happened is that the entire community is a blank canvas. Literally, at this point in terms of being able to build streets that can accommodate all users and have neighborhoods where children can walk safely to school, we can actually restore the historical places. Their Moku'ula is a really good example of that. It's the capital within the capital of Hawai'i. And at some point, I think it was, in the 1920s or the 1940s—this is documented, so don't take my brain on this.
It's sometime in that era, they actually bulldozed it over and infilled it to make it a baseball field. So this is a chance to literally unearth our past history and actually really celebrate and preserve the specialness of this place. And I think the county is actually doing that or attempting to do that in its planning process and is centering the community voices that have been really asking for restoration of those places for a very long time.
What has healing looked like for the Lahaina community? What resources have y'all personally found most helpful while navigating through this process?
Noelle: I think there have been independent organizations that have provided free resources after the fire, whether it's therapy, acupuncture, Lomi, which is a type of massage, body work that's being done. But these kinds of services have been offered through independent orgs and I think that's been really great for the community members and especially therapy, being a massive one.
And then I think for the community to heal there have been many community events because we don't have a place to gather anymore. So we gather in whatever community events may be put on. So, the filing has been great for me because it's a way that a lot of our community members get together. That's nice.
Marina: I was just going to throw out specifically EMDR is really amazing. Highly recommended for anyone dealing with specific PTSD therapy. But, I think literally it was just folks. I remember my therapist who I had been meaning to get a relationship with a therapist just didn't do it and she literally called me until I picked up and saw me for free for five months. That's basically what everyone did.
That's just one example of everyone just basically opened their arms and dropped what they were doing to just help everyone else.
The fires have highlighted some serious housing challenges, as y'all have mentioned. How did displacement affect the residents and what are the important steps to addressing these issues?
Marina: It's affected everyone. Whether people literally lost their homes or lost their businesses or lost their income streams, we've all lost so many people, who have been economically forced out. So I think we had a huge housing problem before and I guess the one thing that is worth noting is Maui. I think the first news headline that I could track down that talked about Maui's housing shortage went back to 1921.
We've been talking about this for a very long time. During COVID, we had a huge influx in outside wealth to where property values skyrocketed, 40 to 60% in some cases. It used to be that a single family home was around $700,000, which is still way more than most working families can afford with our salaries here and then post COVID it shot up to 1.2 and then the fires happened in Lahaina. The median priced home for last year was $2,680,000. The fire wiped out housing for working class people.
This tragedy has essentially highlighted decades of policy failures and systemic inequities here. At the same time though, I think our community will hopefully be able to get more done than we ever possibly could because of the fire. Bill 9 is a very good example, which is a big, huge proposal that would basically phase out short-term rentals (Editors note: like Airbnb) in areas zones for multifamily housing, or apartments. It is essentially a zoning change. Everyone might want to make it extraordinarily political, but it basically just says it's not going to be legal for apartments in those areas to operate as vacation rentals anymore. But, had the fires not happened, I don't think this would’ve happened. That's where I think, all of a sudden, we're really talking about the future of our community and what we want it to look like, and the big steps we can take to get there.
Aunty Ginger Prince serves on the LCLT Advisory Board, a group of Lahaina residents who share ‘ike to shape the land trust's mission and stewardship policies.
What are the most crucial next steps for Lahaina's recovery and how can residents continue to play a vital role in shaping what's to come?
Noelle: I think what Marina just mentioned about bill nine is there's this exhaustion that we're all feeling and continually being alert for anything that might happen as far as policy changes go. It's really encouraging the community to continue to stay involved — tapping in and tapping out when you can.
There's just so much happening as far as policy changes go that we need to either be in support or opposition. And I think staying involved in that capacity and making sure that the future that you want is one that's being actively built. How can anyone from out of Hawai’i continue to support Maui?
Continue talking about Maui and checking in to see how much has Maui rebuilt or where are they at in the process and supporting us in that way. Immediately after the fires, there was a bunch of financial support that had come in from all around the world. If you do have the financial means to support, where else can you contribute? We're going to say LCLT because we are one of the leading organizations on Maui that's working to prevent displacement after disaster and erasure of culture by way of keeping our people here.
Our big effort right now is to keep our people home. One of them being our Keep Lahaina Home Insurance Gap Program. It’s essentially a grant that we provide to fire affected families.
The median gap between your insurance proceeds and your rebuilding cost right now is around $400,000. If you're a working class family who's been paying a mortgage on your lot for the past almost two years, who's paying rent up to $7,000 or more for a two bedroom and then also saving to rebuild your home, sometimes people now don't have any means to stay. This program gives that money to you as a grant and you agree to be owner-occupied. You agree to a 1.5% appreciation of your home and then you also agree to sell to local buyers in the future.
For other families who don't have the financial means or no longer want to be in Lahaina and they want to sell, we have another option at the Land Trust where we try to purchase the property and bring that into community stewardship.
Our big mission right now is to own 20% of Lahaina's housing inventory in the next ten years. We have eight parcels secured, zoned for a total of 21 units. There are another three parcels under contract, zoned for 9 additional units. So in total, 30 units across all properties! That's about 2.32 acres, the vast majority of which lies within the burn zone's footprint. At this point, we plan to build out the maximum number of units and bedrooms possible to meet Lahaina's housing needs.
Five families have signed contracts for the Keep Lahaina Home Insurance Gap Program to receive support to rebuild and partner to protect properties for local families, forever. Five more are set to move forward in the next few weeks. We want to give a huge mahalo to Hawai'i Community Lending, Hoʻōla iā Mauiakama Disaster Long Term Recovery Group and Habitat for Humanity Maui, because none of this would be possible without their kokua! At present, we have the capacity to assist 25 families and are actively fundraising to meet additional needs.
LCLT has raised $18M so far for housing and another $10M for managed retreat and cultural/open space acquisition. Our target is $200M for us and our partners.
Message
As families struggle to rebuild and restore what remains of Lahaina, community members remain hopeful through sincere effort. The Lahaina Community Land Trust continues to organize with a spirit of compassion, resilience, and family. Their programs address gaps in the housing crisis and government aid, making sure that their rebuilding process is one of dignity and justice.
Through their commitment, anyone experiencing displacement after such a tragedy is able to hold their head and heart with strength and pride.
Please consider donating to the Lahaina Community Land Trust. Your financial contribution helps LCLT continue to restore, nurture, and steward their beloved community.
Donation link: https://lahainacommunitylandtrust.org/donate.