AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Today marks one year since a wildfire ripped through Lahaina, killing more than a hundred people and decimating centuries of history in the town that was once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom. A federal investigation into what caused the fire has not yet been released. But last week, plaintiffs and defendants in hundreds of lawsuits agreed to a proposed $4 billion global settlement. It remains to be seen how that money will be distributed. We recently checked back in with survivors of that fire to see how they're doing one year later and how they plan to mark this day.
ERICA SOUZA: We have decided that we want to go to Lahaina, and we want to spend the day together and sit at the beach and do kind of like what we used to do.
CHANG: Erica Souza (ph) and her husband lost the home they owned, where they had lived with their two children. They now have a new baby, and they have spent the past year living with friends and family. Now, they're moving to transitional housing.
DEBBIE ARELLANO: I don't feel settled yet. So to have long-term planning, that's challenging. My name is Debbie Arellano. I was born in Wailuku and raised in Lahaina.
CHANG: Before the fire, Arellano lived in a compound with her parents, siblings and their families. Their home was severely damaged in the fire. She's currently renting about 40 minutes from Lahaina. She leaves the house each day at 5:30 a.m. to commute to her job as a vice principal at Lahainaluna High School. It's not perfect, but she says she is feeling more rooted.
ARELLANO: I'm working on my garden. The garden has always been my healing space.
CHANG: She says that she'll spend today reflecting at home with her family.
ARELLANO: I'm OK with the sadness, I just don't want to be in public with it, I guess. I don't want to share the moment with anybody.
JOJO VASQUEZ: It's still a very strong era of uncertainty.
ALIZA ESCANO VASQUEZ: And if I sit down and really think about the future, it really is kind of paralyzing.
CHANG: Jojo Vasquez and Aliza Escano Vasquez (ph) lost their home and car in the fire. They own a restaurant in Lahaina and say that staffing has been tough over the last year, since there's so little housing available. Today, the family plans to drive through the historic downtown, their first time since last year.
A VASQUEZ: It's just really paying respect to that piece of history we all shared at one point.
CHANG: Alex Kalma (ph) lost his uncle, Raphael Imperial, in the fire. He's planning to go to the remembrance at the Lahaina Civic Center tonight to pay his respects to those who died.
ALEX KALMA: And I'm sure that me and my family will go to my uncle's cross at the bypass. You got to feel to heal. You can't forget those that have passed on.
CHANG: Kalma lived in Lahaina for decades, but now he's in the middle of his fourth move on Maui since last year. The gym where he worked as a personal trainer burned down, as did many venues where he gigged as a musician. But the fire on Maui has inspired him to work in nature conservation.
KALMA: It's really put an emphasis that, I really, you know, I got to help. If you take care of the land, the land will take care of you.
CHANG: Other person who lost his home in the fire was Hawaii State Senator Angus McKelvey. He represents West Maui. He's also a lifelong resident of Lahaina, and he joins us now. Senator McKelvey, welcome to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED.
ANGUS MCKELVEY: Aloha. Thank you for having me today.
CHANG: There are so many memorial events planned in Lahaina this week. How are you personally observing the one-year marker?
MCKELVEY: I'm being retriggered. I mean, I had trauma from this thing, and like many other people, everything's being retriggered right now.
CHANG: What does that feel like to be retriggered? Can you explain what that means for you?
MCKELVEY: It's horrific. It's like replaying a movie that you don't want to watch again over and over again. And I was front and center for the whole thing. And, I mean, you talk about the health and mental health, things that have arisen from these fires that are still ongoing. And the lack of resource and the ability to get care was already a challenge before the fire. Now, it's nearly impossible.
CHANG: Let's talk about one aspect of that because the fires destroyed thousands of homes and other structures. They displaced so many families. It worsened preexisting housing crisis on Maui. And I know that survivors are still struggling to find long-term places to live, many of them. So one year on, what would you say are the most important ongoing challenges that people are still facing when it comes to housing?
MCKELVEY: Oh, well, getting any kind of housing, both temporary housing that they know that will be there for them, even if their rebuild of their house or finding another rental takes longer, which it will. Having housing that is continuous and they're not moved around. And then, you know, a lot of people who are dependent upon the direct lease program and they were assigned at rates that were astronomically above the universe, which created a hyper inflation in the rental market across the board. And what's going to happen when the FEMA cliff, you know, happens, when they don't renew these rates at these huge amounts to everybody? There'll be a massive turnout because people can't afford it.
CHANG: Yeah. I know that visits to Maui are still down significantly when compared to where they were before these fires. How is that playing out day-to-day in people's lives there?
MCKELVEY: It's having a huge effect. I mean, people are losing their income. People who have been able to get their jobs back are seeing reduced income. There clearly is visitors coming in, but many visitors still have respect for Lahaina and it's out of respect that they don't come over here. Nobody wants to vacation in a war zone. That's not the way it looks because of the cleanup efforts. However, it still has that feel about it sometimes, especially when you're on the outside looking and hearing things from people about all the issues that are going on.
CHANG: Meanwhile, rebuilding has begun in Lahaina, obviously, though there's still a long long way to go. How is it going? What are the biggest challenges you see ahead on the rebuilding effort?
MCKELVEY: Land use issues. You know, the cleaning up, you know, I will give the corps and the cleaning division of FEMA props here to get, like, 98% of the residential clean, and they're making inroads on the commercial now. It is good. But that's kind of the easy part, if you will, in the struggle, is now comes the hard part of rebuilding.
And the biggest challenge is going to be all of these different political interests that are now weighing in that normally wouldn't weigh in on a town that's standing. Then you have people who have - Lahaina was a funky town that grew up around itself, where you and your neighbor just had kind of general agreements about things, right? Now, everything's burned down. You have to go and get your property line remetered. Now all sorts of problems are popping up.
CHANG: Let me just ask you. Throughout all of this tragedy over the past year, where do you see your community finding strength?
MCKELVEY: Within each other. That's it. Lahaina has always been a community of large families, of deep roots. And after the days after the fire and even now, people are finding ways to just be there for each other. I think the most profound thing for people to really take in and realize, this disaster wiped out the entire social infrastructure from soup to nuts, from A to Z, daycare, grocery stores, the ability to talk to your friends, you know, on a daily basis, your informal network of elderly kupuna care or kids gathering together community programs, all that gone.
That is the monumental thing. You have to rebuild an entire society, if you will, on the west side of this island. And so that's why I plead patience and support for people because, you know, we are moving ahead. The community is staying strong. But understanding and support, especially on the one year, is important. And I, for one, appreciate those who still remember Lahaina, know that thanks to all these things and diaspora, everything, that they're still, you know, with us.
CHANG: State Senator Angus McKelvey of West Maui. Thank you so much for spending this time with us.
MCKELVEY: I appreciate it. And I appreciate the ongoing coverage. Aloha.
CHANG: Aloha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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