Officials on Maui went door-to-door evacuating residents from a wildfire Tuesday and sounded emergency sirens.
The 4-acre fire was first reported near the north shore town of Pāʻia at 1:30 p.m., officials said. There were no containment estimates immediately available. There was no immediate information on what caused the fire.
“Leave immediately!” said one alert from the Maui Emergency Management Agency. “There is a dangerous threat to life and property.”
Pāʻia is a former sugar plantation town that has become popular with windsurfers. It is on the other side of the island from Lahaina, which was destroyed by a deadly wildfire in 2023.
Pāʻia resident Rod Antone was trying to coordinate the evacuation of his elderly parents. “It's nerve-wracking,” he said. “Hopefully nothing happens to the neighborhood.”
Antone was working in a county building in Wailuku where he listened to radio updates but didn't hear the sirens. In the hours before a wildfire engulfed the town of Lahaina in 2023, Maui County officials failed to activate sirens.
Antone noted that winds didn't feel particularly strong Tuesday, unlike in August 2023 when wind-whipped flames burned Lahaina and left 102 people dead. But like Lahaina, Pāʻia is surrounded by dry brush, he said.
The Maui Fire Department was using two helicopters to help fight the blaze. During the Lahaina fire, helicopters were grounded due to the strong winds.
As of 4:30 p.m., the American Red Cross had opened evacuation sites at Haliʻimaile and Pukalani’s Hannibal Tavares community centers, the county said. Makawao’s Eddie Tam and Haʻikū community centers are still being prepped and are not yet open.
Road closures as of 4:30 p.m. included Baldwin Avenue at Makawao Union Church, Baldwin Avenue at Haliʻimaile Road, Hāna Highway at Baldwin Avenue, Hāna Highway at Holomua Road, Pāʻia-bound lane of North Firebreak Road, and Hāna Highway Pāʻia-bound lane at Haleakalā Highway.
When traffic out of Pāʻia started building, Wayne Thibaudeau decided to open a gate to give motorists an alternate evacuation route. Thibaudeau is one of the owners of Pāʻia Sugar Mill, which closed in 2000 and is being renovated.
The route takes motorists through old sugarcane fields. There was a steady stream of “cars packed with people” using the route, he said.
Find the latest emergency information on the Maui County alert website.
