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Six months after wildfires ripped through Lahaina, melted lettering still clings to the Lahaina Bypass sign along Honoapiilani Highway. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

multimedia Green yards have begun returning in Lahaina amidst the rubble of the Aug. 8 fires. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

Traffic has started backing up on a daily basis going south through Lahaina as debris-removal work gets underway. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

The temporary dump site in Olowalu for fire-related debris from Lahaina has been receiving loads. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

Crews started filling up the Olowalu landfill with wildfire debris from Lahaina. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

Containers are set up at the base of the temporary landfill in Olowalu to sort trash. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

Traffic in and out of Lahaina at the turnoff for the temporary Olowalu landfill backs up. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

Motorists are dealing with regular traffic delays leaving Lahaina due to the debris-removal work. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

Maui Police Chief John Pelletier held a news conference about the department’s preliminary after-action report, which provided a detailed account of its response and 32 ways to improve for future emergencies. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

MPD’s preliminary after-action report revealed the locations of where people died in the Aug. 8 Lahaina fire. The majority were found along Kahua Street (middle) and other adjacent roads near the Pioneer Mill smoke stack. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

Maui Planning Director Kate Blystone will play a major role in the rebuilding of Lahaina. (Nathan Eagle/Civil Beat/2024)

Maui Planning Director Kate Blystone is flanked by her supporters, including Mayor Richard Bisssen, left, and Josiah Nishita, head of the new Office of Recovery, during her confirmation before the County Council. She takes over a department reeling with low morale, a backlog of permits, a staffing shortage and other issues. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

Kate Blystone is flanked by her supporters, Maui County Mayor Richard Bisssen (left) and Josiah Nishita, head of the new Office of Recovery, during her confirmation before the County Council. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

Gov. Josh Green marked the six-month anniversary of the wildfires on Feb. 8 with a press conference at University of Hawaii Maui College alongside government officials. He said there is without a doubt, “a ton more work to do.” (Brittany Lyte/Civil Beat/2024)

Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said on the six-month anniversary of the fires that the “lack of stable housing has obviously been a very major source of anxiety for our displaced residents, especially for our families with children.” (Brittany Lyte/Civil Beat/2024)

With four dispatchers leaving following the Aug. 8 fires, only 15 remain to cover about 1,600 daily police, fire and medical calls for Maui, Molokai and Lanai. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

The Maui Police Department is taking over a lease at the Queen Ka’ahumanu Center in Kahului that used to be held by the U.S. Army and Navy for its recruiting. The department faces a 30% job vacancy rate, partly fueled by the fires. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

Ashley Kelly is chief operating officer of Family Life Center which is building Ohana Hope Village in Kahului. The village will house Lahaina residents displaced by the Aug. 8 fire. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2024)

Organizers had hoped to have the rent-free housing ready to go within weeks of the fire at Ohana Hope Village. They’re still battling red tape over water. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2024)

Several properties along Malanai Street and Wahikuli Road, located in the northern section of the Lahaina burn zone, have been cleared of fire debris by contractors with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

Contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are clearing a property in the northern section of the Lahaina burn zone. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, members of Hawaii’s congressional delegation and others visited Lahaina in late February. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2024)

Buttigieg and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai were the latest of Biden’s Cabinet members to make the long trip. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2024)

Prior to Buttigieg’s visit, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra came in August, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in September and Small Business Administration’s Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman earlier this month. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2024)

Kim Ball, a member of the Lahaina Advisory Committee and owner of five surf shops on Maui, is focusing on economic recovery from the Aug. 8 fire. Businesses on a small part of Front Street reopened in February. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

The Army Corps of Engineers built this temporary school in Napili-Honokowai for 600 children who attended King Kamehameha III Elementary School that burned down in the Aug. 8 Lahaina fire. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

Gov. Josh Green announced the One Ohana Fund at the end of February, to be administrated by retired Judge Ronald Ibarra, left. The fund is designed to compensate loss of life and injury for those who survived the Aug. 8 fires on Maui. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2024)

Mayor Richard Bissen chose private property near the Central Maui landfill as the permanent site for non-recyclable fire debris from Lahaina. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)

Seanna Daise, a teacher at Lahaina Intermediate School, was happy that the final dump site for fire debris will be in Central Maui and not a half-mile from Lahaina schools. (Cammy Clark/Civil Beat/2024)