RELATED PHOTO GALLERY LAHAINA—Kevin Tanaka, his wife, Saane Tone-Tanaka and their family arrived just after sunrise Friday at Hanaka ‘o ‘o Beach Park to participate in a paddle-out to honor four kupuna family members who died trying to escape the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires in Lahaina and a fifth family kupuna who died in the days before.
“This year, ” Tanaka said, “It’s a little less painful.”
He and other family went into Lahaina after the fires to discover that the family home near the old Sugar Mill had burned to the ground. Fifty yards from the house, they found the remains of their loved ones in their car, which had been trapped by another vehicle.
Tanaka nodded to his wife and said, “it was hard telling her we found them, ” he said.
They were among an estimated to join or witness the second “paddle-out ” at the start of a full day of events to commemorate the second anniversary of the Maui wildfires that killed 102 people and destroyed 2, 200 structures.
Capt. Mike Sparling, west side captain for Maui County’s Ocean Safety Department, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the turnout was “a little less ” than the number of survivors and supporters who showed up for the first commemoration in 2024.
An estimated 350 people swam or paddled out on surfboards, boogie boards and stand-up boards that ended with a helicopter flower drop and participants joining hands to sing “Hawaii Aloha ” in the water followed by whoops and cheers.
An armada of Coast Guard, Maui fire and Ocean Safety crews in boats and on personal water craft patrolled the waters off the beach for the safety of participants.
Lahaina Strong community spokesperson Paele Kiakona said before Friday’s paddle-out that, “I’m not happy this happened to us, but I’m happy that it didn’t happen to anybody else—because I know this town, this community, these people are so strong and they’re willing to fight for one another, stand up and be there. That’s what today is, it’s a reminder of that.”
The paddle-out was the first event Friday in a series of memorial events—collectively part of Kuhinia, Maui—to mark the disaster, honoring the victims and survivors and thanking first responders who risked their own lives.
It was followed by a midday gathering in Central Maui at the Kalana O Maui building and concluded with a closed gathering at the Lahaina Civic Center to allow community members to grieve privately. It was off-limits to the media.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen attended the paddle-out along with U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, who said that she released white doves to “honor the souls that were lost.”
De Andre and Lexi Takahashi and their sons, Mana, 2, and Makali ‘i, 1, were the first to arrive at the paddle-out. They got there just after sunrise to avoid traffic and to help Lahaina Strong coordinate the community swim, which started at 10 a.m.
The fires destroyed several Takahashi family homes and displaced 10 immediate family members along with dozens more extended family members.
Warner Duldulao-Kahaialii picked out a spot on the sand and waited for his family to join him as the memories from two years ago came back.
“We all got out OK, Duldulao-Kahaialii said, “but everything burned down. I didn’t find work for three months.”
So after participating in last year’s paddle-out, Duldulao-Kahaialii sat on the beach preparing himself for what to expect Friday.
“Emotions are going to be raw, ” he said. “All the memories of what happened that day are coming back.”
Later, at the Maui County building in Wailuku, Gov. Josh Green, three of Hawaii’s four Congressional members, Bissen and County Council members gathered in a wind-whipped event. They said thank you to first responders and noted that the world watched as Maui demonstrated what aloha and ohana really mean by coming together in the aftermath of the wildfires.
“We came together as one, ” Bissen told those gathered on the lawn outside of the county building. “We witnessed countless acts of compassion.”
Lahaina was left looking as if it had been hit by a “nuclear warhead, ” Green said.
In the days that followed, Green said, the world witnessed “what the people of Maui can do.”
Along with first responders, Green also thanked demonstrators who pushed officials “to do more, faster, ” including providing health care and housing, which continue, along with mental health trauma.
“People are still suffering, ” Green said.
But, he said, “Hawaii stands strong, Maui stands strong. … We will never stop.”
They also acknowledged the long slog ahead to rebuild Lahaina, the original seat of power for the Kingdom of Hawaii that later evolved into a critical port for the international whaling industry, then a plantation community and a major center for Maui’s tourist-based economy.
“It’s not a one-day thing, ” said Council member Tamara Paltin, who lives in Lahaina and represents West Maui, told the Star-Advertiser. “It’s a long-term thing.”
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz told the gathering that, “many people are still not on their feet. … People are still in deep, deep pain. … We have a very long way to go.”