Before-and-after satellite photos show how Maui's wildfires have turned a coastal town into ash
Grace Eliza Goodwin
- Maui's historic town of Lahaina has been decimated by the wildfires raging this week.
- Dozens of people are dead, sites built in the 1800s and the island's oldest tree have been destroyed.
Parts of Maui have been devastated this week by wildfires raging across the island, killing dozens of people, forcing thousands to evacuate, and wiping out power and cell phone service in the hardest hit areas.
The western coast of Maui has been hit particularly hard, and the historic town of Lahaina is now mostly rubble.
The Maui Fire Department said in a press release Wednesday that the town suffered "widespread damage" with over 271 structures damaged by the fire.
Before-and-after satellite images show how the culturally significant town, once home to around 12,000 people, has been reduced to ash.
A number of historic monuments and buildings filled the old town of Lahaina on Maui's west coast
Lahaina, which is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places, has a rich cultural history dating back to before Hawaii was a part of the United States.
In 1802, Hawaii's ruler King Kamehameha made Lahaina the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, which it remained for 50 years until Honolulu took its place, according to the town's website.
A number of historic buildings remained in the town from that era — like the Old Lahaina Courthouse, which was built in 1858, and the Baldwin Home, which was built in 1834 and was the oldest house still standing on Maui, according to the town website.
That is, until the fires wiped them out.
Now, some of the most historic buildings in Lahaina have been reduced to ash
The image above shows the destruction of the Old Lahaina Courthouse, along with the world-famous Banyan tree — the oldest living tree on Maui — beside it.
The Baldwin Home Museum just northeast of Banyan Court also appears to be destroyed.
Before the fires, trees and grassy fields surrounded the small town of Lahaina
Lahaina was a beautiful seaside town surrounded by lush greenery before the fires struck the region this week.
Many of the buildings and greenery in Lahaina have been wiped out
If you look closely at the image above, you can see that the majority of buildings in this section of town are now just grey piles of rubble, and the streets in between are no longer lined with lush trees.
Before the fires, Lahaina was a major tourist destination
According to Reuters, Lahaina sees about 2 million visitors a year, which is 80% of the total yearly visitors to Maui.
It will take a long time to rebuild Lahaina after the fires, the lieutenant governor said
Hawaii's Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke told CNN she flew over the town on Wednesday, getting a firsthand view of the wreckage.
"The whole town was decimated," Luke told CNN, adding that it was "shocking" and "devastating."
"We're still trying to assess the amount of damage but the road to recovery will be long," Luke said, according to the outlet. "It's going to take years."
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