MAUI-Maui County officials closed all roads to public use in the town of Lahaina as the fires on the island continue to spread. West Maui is also closed off to all traffic, according to an update from Maui County. Only emergency personnel will be allowed into that part of the island. Evacuations continue to be issued across Maui, and a county press release said that an evacuation site had to be moved to “place evacuees away from impacted Lahaina town.”
Lahaina is a census-designated place with a population of just under 13,000 people as of 2020. Lahaina resident Alan Dickar earlier posted video of several buildings on fire along Front Street, a popular thoroughfare in the area. Major airlines are helping passengers rebook trips due to the Hawaii wildfires. Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines are waiving change fees for trips to and from Kahului Airport on the island of Maui.
Hawaii is “discouraging non-essential travel to Kahului, and we are supporting our guests with flexible options to change their flights,” Hawaiian Airlines said in a statement to CNN. “The safety of our guests and employees, including teammates who live and work on Maui, is our priority, and we will continue to support the state with its ongoing response.”
More than 120 commercial flights are scheduled to depart from the two-runway airport Wednesday, with only six Maui flights canceled in the last 24 hours, FlightAware data shows. Kahului Airport is served by 10 airlines in total, including Delta Air Lines and Alaska Airlines.