Lahaina Fire

Event Summary | Summary
Posting Date: August 10, 2023, 2:00:00 PM

An outbreak of wildfires in the Hawaiian Islands has killed 36 people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of buildings on the island of Maui.  The town of Lahaina, on Maui’s west coast, bore the brunt, as reports and satellite images show much of the town was wiped out by the fire yesterday.  Official reports currently place the number of buildings impacted at north of 271, but Verisk analysis of imagery and video flyovers indicates this number could exceed 1,500.  While the specific cause of this fire is not clear at this time, a Red Flag warning had been in place for the islands following an extended period of dry conditions, and winds exacerbated by the passing of Hurricane Dora to the south helped fan and spread the flames. Per the National Weather Service in Honolulu, significant differences in atmospheric pressure between the hurricane and the air north of Hawaii formed a pressure gradient over the islands, which in turn drove the high winds. With Dora now moving away from Hawaii, winds should abate on Thursday. 

Two other fires - Upcountry and Pūlehu/Kīhei – are also burning on Maui, and as of Thursday morning there was no official update on containment for any of the three fires.  11,400 people have evacuated from Maui so far, with more expected today – evacuations have been somewhat slowed by the temporary closing of the main highway across the island, which has since been reopened.  In addition to the fire on Maui, five fires have also started on Hawaii island, and though there have been evacuations, the risk to people and structures is far lower.  As of Wednesday afternoon, at least two of the fires on the big island were already contained.

Please contact your Verisk representative with any additional questions about this event.

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Posting Date: August 10, 2023, 2:00:00 PM