LAHAINA, Maui - FRONT STREET Driving TOUR - 8 Months after the FIRE

Aloha everyone so we're coming up on around eight months since the big lahina fire and if you follow my channel you know that I've released several aerial tours of the part of lahina that was impacted by the fire but even I have not been into the restricted area to see it from the ground with my own eyes that is until today so today I was given permission to access some of the commercial areas around Front Street and in this video I'm going to take you on a driving tour to see what kind of progress we're making let's go take a look so just like my aerial tours we're going to start on the far south side of lahina town we just turned on Front Street and are passing the entrance to the puamana community by the way I'll provide timestamps in the description down below to different landmarks that we're going to pass along the tour as we round the first corner here on Front Street we see our first signs of progress with the crew here working to clear one of the properties according to the Army Corps of Engineers there's already been 461 properties cleared of their Ash and debris so we really have made good progress when you consider the fact there's only around 1,500 more lots that need to be cleared based on those numbers we're almost 25% complete already now most of the properties that have been cleared are in residential areas and we're coming up on an area that has several properties that have been completely cleared of their asan debris and they have piles of gravel waiting to be spread the gravel's actually used used as erosion control and it's the last step in this phase of the cleanup before the properties are handed back over to the owners so I'm told that the crews are completing the cleanup of around 11 properties per day on average and that we are on track to finish the majority of the cleanup before the end of the year there are around 500 men and women in lat toown working to clear properties on a daily basis the majority are hired by local contractors with approximately 71% being Hawaiian with the cultural and historical significance of L town in mind it is very important that local people are included in the cleanup to help monitor the process and it helps the local economy by keeping the FEMA money within the community so I know that to most people Front Street in this condition is mostly unrecognizable but I'll do my best to guide you along the way and if you watch all the way to the end of the video I'll show you what a portion of this drive looked like before the fire you will notice that there are a handful of homes in this area that seem to have escaped the fire without much damage but keep in mind that utilities have not been fully restored so without power and clean water these properties are mostly uninhabitable on the left we're going to be coming up on the lahina Shores Condominium complex lahina Shores surviv the fire mostly undamaged with the exception of some wind damage that was sustained the day of the fire just past Lina Shores on the left we're coming up on the shops at 505 Front Street this is the area that included restaurants like spankies Betty's Beach Cafe and Pacifico on the beach it's also where you would have found the Feast at lelay luau now coming up on the right hand side we're about to pass the cultural Corridor that is called mokuola this area was once surrounded by a pond that was fed by freshwater spring the land is considered sacred and it was once the site of King kamehameha's Royal Palace the governor recently announced that that the state intends to give this land back into Trust of the people of lahina so the area can be restored and speaking of King kameha Maya we're about to pass the king kameha Maya Elementary School unfortunately the school did receive substantial damage during the fire but the good news is that the army of Corps of Engineers has already constructed a replacement School located near the Kapalua Airport and it has the capacity for up to 600 students okay so coming up on the left is Canal Street which is also the start of the world famous banion tree as you can see the portion of the banion tree that sits right along Front Street did receive quite a bit of damage but the portion of the tree that's near the old Lina courthouse is showing lots of sign of life with nice green leaves on the other side of the street here you're looking at one of the school buildings and of course straight ahead is the lahina harbor as we turn on to Warf Street you're going to see the old Lana Courthouse historical building with the wall Still Standing but everything from the roof and inside completely burnt out from what I can see they have removed all the damaged boats from the harbor but they'll have to replace the damaged pilings before the harbor is completely operational again we're now turning on to Hotel Street and passing what was once the p pioner Inn and coming up on the other side of Front Street straight ahead is what was once the warf Cinema Center and shops this is where you'd find the lahina movie theater and restaurants like Cool Cats Cafe Down the Hatch and Captain Jacks now we're turning back onto Front Street and continuing to head north on the right hand side you can see that we're coming up on the old Baldwin home Museum historical building and you can see they've already put some bracing up to keep the walls that are still intact standing okay continuing North on Front Street we're now coming up on a long stretch of shops and art galleries on the ocean side of the street you can see a sailboat that ran ground several months after the fire straight ahead on the right hand side you can see the building that held Mick fleetwoods restaurant which was definitely one of my favorites this is actually a portion of Front Street that I walked almost every day for years and as you saw in the first 15 seconds of this video where I showed a before and after comparison it is pretty much unrecognizable compared to what it once was we're now coming up on the intersection of Lina Luna Road and on the ocean side of Front Street you can see the area that once held the Cheeseburger in Paradise Restaurant one of the unanswered questions that Still Remains is what will the county allow to be rebuilt on the oceans side of Front Street many of the properties were built right next to and in some cases over the top of the water with all the talk of sea level rise and beach erosion on Maui the county has significantly changed the setback rules for new construction now if you ask me I think Property Owners should be allowed to rebuild using the exact same footprint they once had but it will be interesting to see what is actually allowed on the right hand side we're coming up on the entrance to the Foodland parking lot and where Long's Restaurant once was this is the papaa Street intersection and on the other side you can see where the new Tommy Bahama Restaurant and the outlets of Maui once stood I'm told that crews are doing their best to recycle all of the concrete and steel recover during the cleanup at the end of this video I'll show you exactly where they're staging and starting to break down these materials in Lina Town coming up on the right hand side of the screen you'll see where the lahana United Methodist Church once stood and we're coming up on the intersection of Front Street and Baker Street you can actually see the Seaman Hospital Museum on the right as well we're about to pass the lahina residential Condominiums we're now passing the area where where the Front Street Apartments once stood and we're coming up on the intersection of cani Street and Front Street as we turn right onto cani Street here you'll see the green construction fence that separates the restricted area from K Village K Village is actually the neighborhood that I lived in at the time of the fire now K Village was a newer neighborhood that was just completed a few years ago so it did have updated construction codes and building materials as well as underground electrical which is likely one of the reasons that contributed to the neighborhood mostly surviving the fire we actually just passed my house on the left so you can see just how close we were to the fire from here we're going to jump over to the old Pioneer Mill area on L Luna Road this is where a lot of the cycle materials are being broken down as we drive a little bit farther up the hill you'll see that this is also the area where the vehicles that were burnt during the fire are being crushed and temporarily stored I know it can be difficult to see what lahina town looks like after the fire but we are making steady progress I also think it's important to remember what Lina once was so I'd like to end the video by sharing a quick one minute clip of the exact same drive we just took down Front Street that was shot about a year before the fire we're coming up on the banon Tree on the left and on the right is the warf cinnemon Center and shops just past the banion tree on the left you'll also see once again now if you appreciate the time and energy it takes to put these video updates together please hit the like button to show your support and if you haven't already consider subscribing to my channel for consistent fact-based updates on the progress we're making in Lina Town thanks for watching all the way to the end until we see you on the next one aloha

Channel: Jesse G. Wald

Views: 352,465

Keywords: lahaina, maui, lahaina fire, maui fire, lahaina maui, lahaina front street, lahaina driving tour, lahaina strong, maui strong, maui recovers, Eric west, Jesse g wald, wildfire update, us army corps of engineers, hawaii, wildfire damage, Banyan Tree, Lahaina Harbor, Fleetwoods Restaurant

Id: -du0WnJdepg

Length: 12min 57sec (777 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 01 2024