Maui's Oldest Living Tree Incinerated in Hawaii Wildfires

An ancient and famed tree on the Hawaiian island of Maui has been badly burned by the rapidly spreading wildfires that have led to the evacuation of residents and the deaths of 36 people.

Images posted from the historic resort town of Lahaina show the Banyan Tree, a 150-year-old landmark, black with soot and charred branches. As well as an outpouring of sorrow on social media for the apparent loss, some expressed hope that, as it remains standing, the tree might still survive.

Newsweek approached the County of Maui, which oversees the site, via email for comment on Thursday.

Fire crews are battling three large bush fires on the island of Maui, concentrated in the western region popular with tourists and an inland, mountainous region. Fires on the island of Hawaii, to the southeast of Maui, were also recorded.

County of Maui officials said in an update on Wednesday afternoon that nearly a hundred firefighters had been working "around the clock" to battle the blazes, which had impacted an estimated 271 structures with "widespread damage" to Lahaina and the surrounding area. The fires have also affected power, phone lines and water supplies.

A short while later, officials announced numerous fatalities had been discovered in the active fire in Lahaina during firefighting efforts, while search and rescue remained ongoing. Richard Bissen, the county mayor, said: "This is a deeply somber day."

U.S. President Joe Biden expressed his "deepest condolences" to the families of the dead in a statement on Wednesday, adding he was "grateful to the brave firefighters and first responders who continue to run toward danger, putting themselves in harm's way to save lives."

Despite the acting governor declaring an emergency on Tuesday, Maui County officials urged visitors to the island to leave as soon as possible "due to limited resources in this time of crisis." Alongside the National Guard, firefighters from Honolulu, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard have been rushing to aid the response.

Images and videos of the aftermath of the destruction in Lahaina show the blackened Banyan Tree amongst scorched buildings and still-smoking ground.

Kaniela Ing, a former Democratic state representative, described it as "A tragic symbol of the climate emergency and colonial greed," adding that "the gross mismanagement of land by greedy developers and land speculators destroyed our natural landscape and buffers and enabled the rapid spread of the fire."

Another user wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the tree was "a staple of my memory when I would see my family on Maui. Gone. It hurts. Lahaina town will never be the same."

However, others expressed hope that the tree "might just make it."

"The Banyan Tree somehow still stands amidst so much destruction," one social media user tweeted, adding: "Only time will tell if it survives the injuries sustained in the fires, but it feels like a small beacon of hope in this disaster."

"I've seen trees survive much worse in [California], all my fingers and toes crossed for this old girl," another wrote. "Her branches are upright—good sign to me."

Planted in 1873 in what was then the capital of Hawaii, the Banyan Tree in Lahaina is the oldest of its kind on the island and the largest in the U.S.

The tree was brought to what was then the Kingdom of Hawaii to mark the fiftieth anniversary of a Protestant mission arriving there. It was planted in a fort—later rebuilt as a courthouse—that has since become a site of local historical importance.

The blazes in Hawaii have come amid a spate of heat wave-induced wildfires that have spread across the southwest United States. Early in August, an 80,000-acre wildfire spread across California and Nevada, and in late June a wildfire near Phoenix took hold of nearly 2,000 acres and led to the evacuation of over 1,000 residents.

Several states in the southwest have been regularly experiencing temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Experts have said that climate change was contributing to the hot, dry conditions, making wildfires more likely.