Kula Lodge on Maui suffered a fire that destroyed its restaurant, reported around 3:20 a.m. Monday.
Neighbor Paula Ambre, who lives on the adjacent ʻAinakula Road, said she could see a red glow at the lodge in the early morning hours, but she couldn’t smell smoke.
“The winds were blowing in our favor, and the Maui Fire Department [was] right on the scene,” she said. “I kind of watched it grow a little bit, and then I heard the sirens in the distance, and knew that they were coming. And so that was very reassuring.”
Guests who were staying at the lodge were evacuated.
Kula Lodge CEO Stephanie Mallek told HPR the fire was contained in the restaurant area, and the lodge portion did not burn.
“We are waiting on an investigation to tell us more but are incredibly grateful nobody was hurt and that none of the neighbors were affected,” Mallek said.
Mallek and other community members expressed gratitude for the quick emergency response.
“A major mahalo to our Maui Fire Department and anybody who helped last night, because they certainly took a bad situation and kept it from getting worse,” Ambre said.
Kula Lodge played an instrumental role in the upcountry community's recovery from the wildfires two years ago. The property served as a community hub and housed displaced residents.
Ambre said the Kula Lodge restaurant was a beloved community gathering place.
“They're going to be much missed. It's an icon,” she said. “They've been here forever, breakfast, lunch, dinner, happy hour, you name it. Everybody goes to the Kula Lodge. I hope they’ll experience that same sense of generosity from others that we experienced from them.”
Coming just after the two-year mark of the 2023 wildfires, Ambre said this week’s fire is a reminder to stay prepared — and check in with neighbors.
“I think we all have different levels of our PTSD, let's just call it, and this would be a time that we need to support one another,” Ambre told HPR.
“We've lost another landmark restaurant,” she added. “This will be the second one that we've lost due to fires here in our Kula community.”
Kula Lodge was spared in the 2023 wildfires, but just up the road, Kula Sandalwoods Café and Inn closed two years ago following damage from the fires that burned more than 20 homes in the area.
“We were just remembering [and] coming together as a community last week to remember two years ago, and that was such a kind of a beautiful time, and then to have another fire right here in our neighborhood is really — it just shakes everything up again,” Ambre said.
After Monday morning’s fire, Kula Lodge owners said both the lodge and restaurant will be closed until further notice. Kula Marketplace, the lodge’s retail store and deli, remains open.
“Please do encourage people to come in and visit Kula Marketplace as it will be fully up and running at noon [Monday] and will have normal business hours moving forward,” Mallek posted in a statement on social media.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is still underway.
