Firefighter and surf school operator Aina Kohler is still processing the devastating wildfires that destroyed her home, her businesses, and her community in Lahaina, in Northwest Maui, one year ago.

“I’m just trying to mentally heal from the whole thing,” Kohler said in an interview with Shop Eat Surf.

Kohler is taking time off from the fire department. Her family’s surf school, LahAina Surf Shack, was destroyed, but it’s still operating through its website, offering some lessons even though a lot of its instructors left the island quickly after the fire. Keiki Bowls Café, the coffee shop Kohler and her husband Jonny Varona ran next door, also burned down.

“It’s an interesting place to be in, like I’m trying to figure out who I am now without the whole town,” said Kohler, who grew up on the island and can’t imagine living anywhere else. For now, she and her family have moved to a tiny home after the family they were renting a larger house from wanted it back. Their insurance had run out anyway, she said.

The fires killed 102 people and destroyed the historic town perched on a coast beloved by locals, tourists, and especially surfers. One year later, the number of tourists visiting is far from what it was before the fires, and many local businesses may never return to the area. But there is progress: Almost all of the nearly 1,400 residential lots and more than half of the 159 commercial lots have been cleared of debris, said Kim Ball, the owner of Hi-Tech Surf Sports and a member of the Lahaina mayor’s six-person advisory committee, along with noted waterman and Olukai ambassador Archie Kalepa.

“It has turned into a second job,” Ball said about the advisory committee. “We’re the boots on the ground for the mayor. I’ve learned more about FEMA, EPA, Red Cross, public works, building codes, utilities, and roadways than I ever wanted to know.”

Ball commended the Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA, and the County of Maui for their assistance.

“Experts in the wildfire disaster business say that for rebuilding to start while debris clearance is still going on is unprecedented,” Ball said.

Outpouring From Surf Industry

The surf community has also been helpful through the past year, raising money and generously donating to those in need.

Ball said those donations included 3,000 pairs of leather sandals from Rainbow Sandals, some of which went to Kakoo Maui Relief Center run by the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, and 2,000 pairs of sandals from Havaianas. Stance’s John Wilson, Vissla’s Paul Naude, and Dakine’s Shane Wallace also sent product that was immediately given to people in need.

“Our rental shop area turned into a distribution center,” Ball said. “All of our vendors responded in some way.”

Gerry Lopez sent an order of 12 custom surfboards that Hi-Tech had placed a year earlier and didn’t charge for them.

“Toni (his wife) and Gerry wanted us to do what we thought best, which was to give them to surfers who lost everything,” Ball said.

Companies like Quiet Storm, Sun Diego, Katin, Wave Riding Vehicles, AVVA, and Jetty sent money to Hi-Tech’s non-profit, Maui Sports Foundation. Those donations funded gift cards for West Maui teachers, and replaced sports equipment, athletic uniforms, and shoes.

“The needs were and are great,” Ball said.

Ball said nine corporate surf industry stores in Lahaina and five other locally owned shops that sold surfboards and clothing were destroyed in the fire. All nine surf schools in Lahaina town lost everything, he said.

Volcom, Billabong, Honolua Surf Company, and Quiksilver Stores Lost

Five stores operated by Liberated Brands along Front Street – Volcom, Billabong, two Honolua Surf Company locations, and Quiksilver – were destroyed in the fire. Every employee made it out safely, said Ryan Immegart, Liberated’s co-founder and CMO, but some lost their homes and many chose to leave West Maui.

“Even in the face of such hardship, many stayed, continuing to work with us as we navigated this period of upheaval,” Immegart said. “Moving staff to other locations came with its own challenges, but the transition happened naturally and with the resilience that defines our community.”

Volcom, Billabong, Honolua Surf Company, and Quiksilver stores in nearby Whaler’s Village were closed for two months after the fires and reopened last October. Business was really tough in the first weeks after opening, Immegart said, but showed some recovery during the holiday season.

“As of now, we don’t have any immediate plans to relocate the stores we lost, but we remain hopeful for the future,” he said. “Our focus continues to be on supporting our West Maui ‘ohana and rebuilding stronger together.”

Tourism to Maui Down by More Than 20%

Maui’s tourism is still recovering from the fire, according to numbers tracked by the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Research and Economic Analysis Division.

The number of visitors to the Hawaiian Islands in the first seven months of 2024 has nearly recovered, declining just 3.3% compared to the same period previous year and down by 7.5% compared to the same period in 2019.

As of July 2024, the number of visitors to Maui in the first seven months of the year was down by 23.6% compared to the previous year, and down by 22.8% compared to 2019 numbers. Visitor spending in Maui is also down, at $3.15 billion so far in 2024 compared to $4.17 billion in 2024, a difference of 24.4%.

Crystal Mitchell, who owns surf and skate shop 808 Boards in Honokowai with her husband Dallas, says it’s important that people know they can still come to visit West Maui, even as it’s being rebuilt.

“We are still the most beautiful place in the world,” Mitchell said. “We have the best surf. The winter is about to be here and it’s going to be an awesome winter. Come to Maui. We’re open.”

Mitchell lost her family home in the fire – the second time a wildfire has destroyed her home in Lahaina.

Rebuilding and Charting a New Path Forward

After losing their home in 2018, the Mitchells didn’t think it was possible that lightning could strike twice, even as the fires became more severe in 2023. But this time, they lost their beloved dogs in the blaze, and Dallas was also injured after falling from a retaining wall when a strong gust of wind blew the fire right at him. It burned his ears and nose, and he landed on his feet, shattering one of them, eventually requiring a plate and nine screws to mend it.

The Mitchells lost a lot of the equipment they had rented out, one of their delivery trucks, and there was extensive smoke damage to their warehouse, which was located in the burn zone. But their physical retail shop was fine and has stayed open, while the rental business is on hold for now.

“West Maui is very dependent on tourism, so even our local business, the guys who come in and buy surfboards or paddles or fins or whatever, the system has affected them,” she said. “So that part of my business has really slowed down drastically. Locals can’t afford to buy boards because they’re not seeing tourism at their jobs.”

Mitchell is also taking on more herself with her husband still on a long road to recovery. She said that strangely, having already lost her home in a wildfire before, she knew how to navigate the situation and secured a rental as quickly as possible after the Lahaina fire to provide stability for her kids. Now, they’ve bought a new home, but in a different part of the island.

“My kids just refuse to move back at this point,” Mitchell said.

Aina Kohler said that she also wants “responsible tourism” to return to the area, and believes this is an opportunity to find ways to better protect the local community while still powering a strong economy. Building affordable housing for locals instead of vacation rentals and hotels is one option, she said. And when it comes to surfing, pre-fire, the Breakwall could have as many as 250 surfers from various schools in the water at the same time, a number she said could potentially be mitigated in the future.

Hi-Tech Surf Sports Owner Starts to Rebuild Lahaina Home

Kim Ball received a building permit in the spring to rebuild the home he and his wife Cindy lost, and so far, the concrete foundation has been poured. They haven’t started the process on their sons’ homes, which were also lost in the fire. After moving a couple of times through the year, they’re staying at a friend’s cottage near Lahaina with their two dogs.

“Lahaina is very special, no one from Lahaina wants to leave Lahaina,” he said. “That’s why it was so hard for FEMA to get people out of the hotels after the fire. They didn’t want to leave a hotel room on West Maui for a house in Central or Upcountry Maui.”

He said the local community is tight-knit, and even though they don’t always agree, he feels confident it will be rebuilt thoughtfully and respectfully. In the meantime, he said, keep Maui in your thoughts.

“Don’t forget about us,” Ball said. “We have a long way to go to get well again.”

Kate Robertson can be reached at [email protected].