For generations, the banyan tree along Lahaina town's historic Front Street served as a gathering place, its leafy branches unfurling majestically to give shade from the Hawaiian sun. By most accounts, the sprawling tree was the heart of the oceanside community — towering more than 60 feet and anchored by multiple trunks that span nearly an acre.
Like the town itself, its very survival is now in question, its limbs scorched by a devastating fire that has wiped away generations of history.
For 150 years, the colossal tree shaded community events, including art fairs. It shaded townsfolk and tourists alike from the Hawaiian sun, befitting for a place once called “Lele,” the Hawaiian word for “relentless sun.”
A banyan tree stands along Lahaina town's historic Front Street in February 2018, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The 150-year-old tree was scorched by a devastating wildfire that started Tuesday and tore through the heart of the Hawaiian island of Maui in darkness.
Ring by ring, the tree has captured history.
The tree was just an 8-foot sapling when it was planted in 1873, a gift shipped from India to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission in Lahaina. It was planted a quarter-century before the Hawaiian Islands became a U.S. territory and seven decades after King Kamehameha declared Lahaina the capital of his kingdom.
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“There is nothing that has made me cry more today than the thought of the Banyan Tree in my hometown of Lahaina,” wrote a poster identifying herself as HawaiiDelilah on X, formerly known as Twitter.
A banyan tree stands along Lahaina town's historic Front Street in February 2018, in Lahaina, Hawaii. The tree's enormity — and its many trunks — is because of how it grows. Aerial roots dangle from its boughs and eventually latch onto the soil.
Satellite images show Banyan Court in Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii, on June 25, top, and the same area on Wednesday.
“We will rebuild,” her post said. “And the natural beauty of Maui will be forever.”
The tree's enormity — and its many trunks — is because of how it grows. Aerial roots dangle from its boughs and eventually latch onto the soil. Branches splay out widely and become roosting places for choirs of mynah birds.
While there was lots of concern over the loss of at least 53 lives and the devastation to the community, the tree has become a symbol of the devastation but perhaps the community's resilience, should it survive.
It's unclear what sparked the fire, which quickly raced toward town Tuesday evening. The flames were fanned by brisk winds and fueled by dry vegetation in nearby hills. When the ferocious blaze swept into the historic town, many of the wooden buildings didn't stand a chance and were quickly turned into heaps of ashes.
“It’s kind of the center of town,” said Maui resident Amy Fuqua in an interview with The Associated Press in 2016 when she was the manager of the Lahaina Visitor’s Center. “Everyone knows where it’s at. It has an important significance to the town and it feels good under there.”
Photos show Lahaina before and after wildfire devastation
This combination of satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of southern Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii, on June 25, left, and an overview of the same area on Wednesday, following a wildfire that tore through the heart of the Hawaiian island. The search of the wildfire wreckage Thursday on Maui revealed a wasteland of burned homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze that has already claimed 53 lives, making it the deadliest in the U.S. in five years.
This combination of satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Banyan Court in Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii, on June 25, top, and an overview of the same area on Wednesday, following a wildfire that tore through the heart of the Hawaiian island. The flames left some people with mere minutes to act and led some to flee into the ocean.
This combination of satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Lahaina on Maui, Hawaii, on June 25, left, and an overview of the same area on Wednesday.
This combination of satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Lahaina Square on Maui, Hawaii, on June 25, left, and an overview of the same area on Wednesday.
Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday in Lahaina, Hawaii, where a deadly wildfire that killed at least 53 people left a wasteland of burned-out homes and obliterated communities.
Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday in Lahaina, Hawaii. Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said the island had “been tested like never before in our lifetime.” “We are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time,” he said in a recorded statement. “In the days ahead, we will be stronger as a ‘kaiaulu,’ or community, as we rebuild with resilience and aloha.”
Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday in Lahaina, Hawaii. Mauro Farinelli, of Lahaina, said the winds started blowing hard on Tuesday, and then somehow a fire started up on a hillside. “It just ripped through everything with amazing speed,” he said, adding it was “like a blowtorch.”
Wildfire wreckage is shown Thursday in Lahaina, Hawaii. Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the deadly fire started Tuesday and took the island by surprise, racing through parched growth and neighborhoods in the historic town of Lahaina, a tourist destination that dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island's west side.
