Two Escape Routes Could Have Saved Dozens Of Maui Fire Victims
Without the dead end on Kuhua Street and the private lot dividing Aki Street, everyone there likely would have gotten out safely, Maui county planners say.
The largest concentration of people who died in the 2023 Lahaina wildfire 鈥 nearly three dozen victims 鈥 were found in the Kuhua Camp neighborhood, where fallen trees and power lines blocked many as they tried to flee across narrow roads.
However, everyone there would have escaped that day if the neighborhood had had two key evacuation routes: a through road instead of a dead end at Kuhua Street鈥檚 north end, connecting it to Keawe Street, and an Aki Street that runs the full length of the neighborhood without getting split mid-way by a private lot.
That鈥檚 according to special computer modeling that the U.S Army Corps of Engineers recently provided to Maui County. County planners say plans are already underway to build those routes.
In the model scenarios, opening up those routes 鈥渕ade a ton of difference,鈥 said Erin Wade, a planning and development chief in the county managing director鈥檚 office.
Wade and other county planners presented the Army Corps’ findings to local residents earlier this month during a meeting at Lahainaluna Intermediate School. The modeling showed what would have happened if Lahaina suffered the same wildfire event with those routes in place, providing more options to escape.
If they had existed, 鈥渢here would be no one trapped,” Wade said.
Army Corps officials did not respond to a request for comment Monday.
Brian Acason, a 50-year resident of Maui who owns the lot splitting Aki Street, confirmed Monday that he’s in negotiations with the county to extend the road through his property.
“I want to be part of the solution,” Acason said.
Locked gates impeded the escape of many evacuees across Lahaina during the fire. In the Kuhua Camp area, scores of people found themselves penned in by a fence that separated the residential neighborhood from the former Pioneer Mill industrial property immediately to the west.
The only way to get out of that neighborhood was to head south, in the direction of the flames, and reach Lahainaluna Road. However, a tree and utility lines toppled by the heavy winds blocked access to that main road for many evacuees.
“I want to be part of the solution.”
Brian Acason, a 50-year resident of Maui who owns the lot splitting Aki Street
Six of the victims, including a 11-year-old boy and his parents, tried unsuccessfully to flee the fire by taking shelter in one of several corrugated steel Quonset huts that ran along the gate.
In addition to opening up those two critical Kuhua Camp routes, the Army Corps modeling made several suggestions to improve evacuation across Lahaina.
That includes creating a new connection to the Lahaina bypass road at Hakau Street, connecting all the divided segments of Dickenson Street so that it runs contiguously, and linking the Wahikuli neighborhood to the old cane road above it using Fleming and Wahikuli roads as well as at Malani Street.
Wade said the county has also considered extending Aki Street farther west, through the gated area and the old Pioneer Mill property, so it connects to Honoapiilani Highway. However, Wade said the current owner of that industrial area, Kaanapali Land Co., is in talks to sell the land, which is complicating that effort.
It’s not clear how long it will take to complete the changes. Maui County Public Works Director Jordan Molina was unavailable Monday to provide an estimate.
Civil Beat鈥檚 coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.
