Nui Mizel is originally from Thailand and has been farming in Kula for more than 30 years. But the fires burned her house, crops, warehouse, refrigeration units and farm equipment.
She’s not sure how she's going to move forward.
“Down over there, we have commercial big one, the backhoe, all burned. Tractor burned. All machine from my farm is burned,” she said.
Across Maui, farmers are experiencing losses from the fires, like so many others in the community. Some, like Mizel, have lost crops while others have experienced severe wind damage from the August storms.
And many are suffering the loss of vital sales to now-closed West Maui restaurants.
Mizel’s business, Maui Nui Farm, is 38 acres. Her son runs their Thai food truck, Nui’s Garden Kitchen. She has become a well-loved fixture in the community over the past decades.
She sells her produce to Costco, Foodland and other retailers, along with holding a local farmer’s market at her farm. Her main commercial crops are corn, pumpkins, eggplants and onions. She harvested right before the fire — but it all went up in flames inside her 300-foot warehouse.
Mizel says COVID-19, and now the fire, have slowed her down. But she wants to continue to farm, and train a younger generation of farmers.
“I'm really sad. I've really slowed down. So much happened for farmers," she said. "I not give up. I’m old woman. I’m 70 years old. I still like to continue farm. I love to be farmer, feed people food. I used to feed thousand people.”
Along with crops and equipment, Mizel lost her cats to the fire. She keeps putting out food under the twisted metal that used to be her roof, hoping they survived.
With only seven years left on the lease for her farmland, she doesn’t want to rebuild unless she’s able to negotiate a longer lease.
In the meantime, friends and volunteers are lending a helping hand. They built her a new tiny house on the property. They’re helping her go over her lease agreements and insurance paperwork.
Despite all her losses, Mizel feels the love of those around her.
“All money I put over here. 30 year, all gone," she said. "But I have a lot of love. I cannot believe how much people love me. That's all I feeling.”
