Gov. Josh Green turned Lahaina into a national classroom on disaster recovery this week, hosting the Western Governors’ Association Policy Forum on disaster management in the town still rebuilding from the August 8, 2023 wildfires. Over two days, governors and emergency experts met in West Maui, toured Ka Laʻi Ola, the state’s temporary modular housing neighborhood for survivors, and dug into trauma‑informed recovery and the future of disaster response. Speakers used the gathering to walk through multi‑phase reviews of the fire and the state’s interim housing response, with Green casting Lahaina as a real‑time test case other states could adapt.
Western governors meet in the heart of the burn zone
The Western Governors’ Association convened April 20 to 21 in Lahaina for a policy forum hosted by Green that focused on rebuilding and emergency response, according to the Western Governors' Association. As reported by Maui Now, panels zeroed in on trauma‑informed disaster recovery, disaster management in rural communities, and a planned conversation between Green and New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Reports lay out systemic failures and possible fixes
A multi‑phase review by the Fire Safety Research Institute produced detailed public files and reports that, the Attorney General’s office says, amount to 84 findings, 140 recommendations and roughly 850 gigabytes of underlying data, according to the Hawaii Attorney General's Office. Publications from FSRI and UL trace how extreme wind, aging infrastructure and gaps in preparedness combined to amplify the August 2023 fire, and the investigative timeline concluded that sparks from a broken overhead power line ignited unmaintained vegetation that led to the conflagration, FSRI/UL found.
Housing tour: Ka Laʻi Ola and modular villages
Delegates toured Ka Laʻi Ola, the state's interim modular neighborhood for Lahaina survivors, to see how modular units, services and community spaces are being organized on the ground, according to the Western Governors' Association. State officials say the community will include about 450 units when complete and that residents will be offered rent‑free stays through next August as part of the Maui Interim Housing Program.
Officials stress learning, accountability and hard choices
“We lost 102 of our loved ones,” Green said as he framed the forum around learning, reform and survivor needs, Maui Now reported. State Fire Marshal Dori Booth and community leaders urged rebuilding that prioritizes defensible space, building hardening and better incident coordination, while acknowledging the economic and cultural challenges that come with large‑scale mitigation.
Next steps and policy pushes
Panelists said the goal now is to move FSRI's prioritized actions from recommendations into code changes, funded community risk assessments and cross‑jurisdictional plans that can be adopted nationwide. That push mirrors FSRI's call to consider standards like the International Wildland‑Urban Interface Code and related measures, according to FSRI/UL. It also tracks with the Attorney General’s list of prioritized actions following the wildfire review, according to the Hawaii Attorney General's Office.
The forum continues through Tuesday with sessions on disaster recovery in rural communities and the role of technology in mitigation. Officials said Lahaina's recovery remains a work in progress and that using it as a test case is meant to turn hard lessons into policy that can protect other communities facing the next big fire.
