Shortly after the fire that devastated Lāhainā, items began blowing or washing up on Lana’i and Moloka’i.
Geographically, these islands, along with Kaho’olawe, are the most likely destinations for objects. From photos to pieces of charred wood, items can be of both historical and personal value.
Pūlama Lima is the executive director of Moloka’i’s Ka Ipu Makani Cultural Heritage Center. She has volunteered to collect items from Lāhainā found on Molokaʻi.
She said it’s important to save these items for the Lāhainā community when they’re ready to retrieve them.
“Just a piece of burnt wood — it's still part of that history and so it's not for me to decide what is considered valuable, but rather for the Lāhainā community,” she said.
Lima advised making a note of when and where an object was found.
“It's harder, right, if for example, someone finds a piece of charred wood on the beach, it could be from the Lāhainā fires or it could be from somebody who just did a bonfire at the beach. It's really hard to determine unless there's really clear context,” Lima explained.
As a museum curator, she said that’s where research comes in.
“Research goes into trying to figure out, OK, is this a signage, a piece of signage from the Lāhainā Front Street or… putting together the pieces of a puzzle, basically.”
Tips for handling debris
Lori Foley is the coordinator of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force. It's a public and private partnership between FEMA and the Smithsonian Institution to protect culturally sensitive objects during and after disasters.
Foley stressed safety when handling items from Lāhainā.
“Just to remember when if they find something on the shore washing to be very, very careful in handling them again because they were in such a toxic stew of ashes,” she cautioned. “But the memories that will be saved and captured by those photographs or what other objects might wash ashore will make a world of difference in the healing and the recovery of a population that's been so, so desperately affected by this disaster.”
Foley advised wearing PPE when touching items that may be from the fire.
“It's important that people protect themselves using disposable nitrile gloves. Protective clothing, such as an apron, long sleeve shirt, long pants and sturdy shoes or boots, no rubber slippers and an N95 mask or face covering," Foley said.
"Even though these items might have been in the ocean water, one doesn't know what they have been exposed to before they made it to Lana’i or another island.”
FEMA will be sending experts to help evaluate and locate items from the fire but Foley said they are currently awaiting the go-ahead and protocols from Maui County.
Where to store found items
Shelly Preza, executive director of the Lana’i Culture and Heritage Center wrote a tip sheet for Lana’i residents when finding items from Lāhainā. She suggested looking for identifiable markings that could be used to return them to their owner.
However, the heritage center is not able to hold found items.
Guidance on what to do with found items believed to be from the fire varies from island to island. But Lima advises even if you decide to hold the item yourself, it’s important to reach out to the Lāhainā community when they’re ready, to determine if they’d like the item returned to them.
Several Maui museum organizations are currently collaborating on collection options for items of historic and cultural value found after the fires.
In the meantime, the Bishop Museum is working to serve as a holding space for items from the fire that are found statewide.
