If we wanted to go see a movie or go to a nice restaurant this is where we would go from Hana or Paia for fun. Also this is the most historic place on Maui where Hawaiian Royalty spent a lot of time too. So, many of the most precious historical things from ancient Maui were kept there in Lahaina. All this is lost now (the historical items and buildings etc.) So, to the Native Hawaiians this is a loss that cannot be replaced with anything else.
The reason so many people died there in Lahaina is that there is only a road to the north and a road to the south and the fire came I believe mostly from the south but it is said that there were 3 fires coming at the same time and people who tried to survive by running, bicycling or driving north often were burned up in their cars. There was no escape back to the south because this was where the fire was mostly coming from. There is no real escape to the East because that is the mountains. There is no escape to the west because that is the ocean (even though many survived by going into the ocean to avoid being burned up completely in the fire. There was a man who spoke on CNN of trying to save his house by watering it from the roof until he realized he was going to burn up and so jumped into the ocean at the last minute before he burned up and died in the blowing embers and flames going from house to house and from tree to tree.
Also, the 55 who died so far were only OUTSIDE OF HOUSES so likely there will be many more people who died inside of their houses especially the elderly or people doing something else and not watching the news or radio at the time of the fires.
For me personally, it is like an old friend dying, especially the Banyan Tree which covered about an acre of land across from the Pioneer Inn where I would go for Papaya bowls and stuff there and eat out on the veranda even in the rain. Across the street from the Pioneer Inn and the Banyan Tree were many restaurants and the only movie theater then in 1989 and 1990 on Maui. My family would go see movies there and I think we saw Back to the Future either 2 or 3 there also. So, I have a lot of memories especially since this time and since around 2010 we have mostly gone back to Maui for a week or so in the fall for around a week every year. So, even though I don't live there anymore it holds a very special place in my heart sort of like Mt. Shasta in California. Also, we usually stay now on this side of the island when we visit there. We usually rent a car in Kahului for a week and then drive over to Lahaina side and stay usually in Ka anapali or north of there but we always spend time in Lahaina because it is so quaint and interesting but now it's gone.
Maui, Kaui and all the Hawaiian Islands are like being on another planet in many ways and mostly this is a good experience for people who visit there or live there. It is often like a "Heaven Realm" where people can live away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world (except when calamities strike even there) in paradise like now.
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