26 Dec 2023

Lahaina wildfire debris cleanup soon moving into Phase 2

The Consolidated Debris Removal Program in Lahaina, Maui for the cleanup from the Hawaii Wildfires will soon move in to Phase 2 of the mission which will involve the removal of fire-related debris such as ash, hazardous trees, and concrete foundations. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been conducting Phase 2 debris removal in Kula since Nov. 7 and as of Dec. 23 has removed debris from 22 residential properties. To prepare Lahaina for Phase 2 operations, USACE invited prominent local officials to visit work sites in Kula to see work in progress and sites that are complete and in turn share this information with the Lahaina community.

25 Dec 2023

USACE first responders assist with local toy drive

More than 70 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers first responders on the island of Maui are aiding with the combined federal response mission for the Hawaii Wildfires. They will not spend the holidays with their families and friends. However, that doesn’t mean they are not in the holiday spirit. Adrienne Bostic is one of those 70. She is on the island, helping with the recovery mission. Bostic walked out of her Maui hotel one morning in November and saw a display of artificial flowers with the names and ages of children written on them to donate toys. The children had lost everything in the wildfires. Adrienne was moved to help.

9 Dec 2023

Breadth of GIS science capabilities aiding Hawaiʻi Wildfire response

A combined federal, state, and local disaster such as the 2023 Hawaiʻi Wildfire mission has a lot of moving parts. There are temporary power, critical public facility, temporary housing, and debris assessment and removal missions. All of the data reporting the progress of these missions has to be tracked. For the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the way to do that is by using geographic information science systems, or GIS. USACE is using GIS data to synthesize an abundance of data to arrive at an overall picture of the status of the mission to keep everyone involved as informed as possible. “We have used the ESRI enterprise to create and produce data that can illustrate our mission both spatially and report instantly,” said Kihei, Hawaiʻi, Recovery Field Office GIS analyst Lisa Hook. “The data created populates databases I use to display on maps that are used for briefing and tracking of numbers.”

30 Nov 2023

Soil sample collection begins in Hawaiʻi Wildfire debris removal mission

The first soil samples were collected at a property site cleared of debris by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Kula, marking a milestone with the Hawaiʻi Wildfires Debris Mission, Nov. 18, 2023. If the samples come back below the Hawaiʻi Department of Health cleanup goals, the property owner can proceed with their rebuilding effort. This comes a little more than three months after devastating wildfires fueled by high winds and dry conditions swept across Kula and Lahaina, Maui, Aug. 8, 2023. The sampling will continue across Kula as more impacted sites are cleared.

27 Nov 2023

USACE prepares site for temporary elementary school in Lahaina

Site work recently began for the installation of a temporary elementary school in Lahaina, Maui, to replace one lost in the Aug. 8, 2023, Hawaiʻi Wildfires.