Maui wildfires: Largest banyan tree, 200-year-old church among landmarks charred

Sites which narrated tales of Hawaii's royal past, the largest banyan tree and the 200-year-old church are some of the landmarks which have been reduced to ashes by the disastrous wildfires in Maui.

The tree was a symbol of the culture of the island and the buildings emphasised the importance of Hawaiian history. The whole town recently celebrated the 150th birthday of the banyan tree with cake. The tree continues to stand but is charred by the fire which burned the whole area.

“It certainly doesn’t look like that tree is going to recover,” said James B Friday, an extension forester with the University of Hawaii, while speaking to the New York Times after reviewing videos and photos of the damage. The thin bark of the tree would have failed to provide adequate protection from the flames, he stated.

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For 150 years, community events, including art fairs, have been shaded by the colossal tree. “It’s kind of the centre of town,” said Amy Fuqua, a Maui resident, while speaking to the Associated Press in a 2016 interview.

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“Everyone knows where it’s at. It has an important significance to the town and it feels good under there,” she had added.

Town, history, and heritage engulfed in fire

Apart from the banyan tree, an 1830s-era Baldwin Home Museum was reduced to ash, confirmed Lahaina Restoration Foundation Executive Director Theo Morrison to CNN. The Waiola Church, where English and Hawaiian prayers echoed for decades, was also engulfed by wildfire flames.

The area also houses the Wo Hing Temple Museum, a social and religious meeting place for the Chinese immigrant community of the island. That has also suffered destruction, as seen by satellite imagery.

In 1909, Chinese immigrants who had come to Maui as contract sugar plantation labourers and settled there permanently created the Wo Hing Society, as per the National Park Service. The Lahaina Heritage Museum, which is located on the west of the banyan tree, is also situated amid a field of fire debris which has been captured by satellite images.

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The structure earlier provided an interactive look at Lahaina's history, from the epoch before European contact to the Monarchy era, which included the whaling and missionary period, and from the Plantation era to early tourism, said the website.

“I can say everything in Lahaina is gone,” said Maui resident Dustin Kaleiopu, while speaking to CNN. “Everyone that I know and love, everyone that I’m related to, that I communicate with, my colleagues, friends, family – we’re all homeless,” he added.

The governor on Thursday said that the town, “with a few rare exceptions, has been burned down”.

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