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 65 points 2 years 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 2 years 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 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years 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 4 points 2 years 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 2 years ago

Iirc banyons are phoenix plants, they like fire.

[–] Rapidcreek@reddthat.com 28 points 2 years ago

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

[–] clanginator@lemmy.world 17 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years 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 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Goddamn, my wife and I honeymooned there.

[–] ebits21@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 years ago

Same

[–] PaulDevonUK@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

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

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[–] ShustOne@lemmy.one 7 points 2 years ago

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

[–] NewNewAccount@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years 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 12 points 2 years 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 4 points 2 years ago

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

[–] ShustOne@lemmy.one 3 points 2 years ago

Yes unfortunately it looks like the entire town is gone

[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

Beautiful place - this is just so sad.

[–] ethman42@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

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

[–] AttackBunny@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years 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.

[–] SilentSeven@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years 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.

[–] PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

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

[–] cooljacob204@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (4 children)

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

[–] nero@lemmy.world 23 points 2 years 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.

[–] ShustOne@lemmy.one 6 points 2 years 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 2 years ago

Do sea lions live in Hawaii?

[–] ebits21@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 years 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.