Maui’s famed banyan tree — the largest in the U.S. spanning two acres and having 47 trunks — is being scorched by deadly wildfires
The devastating wildfires on the Big Island and Maui in Hawaii are known to have killed 36 and claimed another victim in the island’s historic banyan tree.
The 150-year-old tree in the city of Lahaina was scorched as wildfires swept through the area on Wednesday.
Lahaina’s banyan, near the city’s historic courthouse, is known as the oldest living banyan tree in Maui.
The tree was imported from India and planted in front of the courthouse in 1873 at a height of only eight feet.
According to the Lahaina Town website, it is now over 60 feet tall with 47 large trunks and covers nearly two-thirds of an acre.
The 150-year-old tree in the city of Lahaina occupies nearly two acres of land near the courthouse
Videos and photos posted to social media show the tree badly damaged by fire and surrounded by destroyed buildings under a still fiery sky
The tree remains and social media posters have speculated that “only time will tell” whether it will survive
Videos and photos posted to social media show the tree badly damaged by fire and surrounded by destroyed buildings under a still fiery sky.
Still, the tree remains and posters speculate that “only time will tell” if it will survive.
One user, Panda’s Toybox, posted a video with the caption “A ground view of Lahaina today shows that the Banyan Tree somehow still stands amidst so much destruction, for those who have been concerned.”
“Only time will tell if it survives the injuries from the fires, but it feels like a small beacon of hope in this disaster.”
Another, Tyler Norris, posted a photo of the courthouse and tree before the fire, then wrote, “This building was the Lahaina Heritage Museum — gone. The tree behind it was the largest banyan tree in the US and the oldest in Hawaii, and one of the most spectacular trees I’ve ever seen. It looks badly burned, but it’s still standing.’
The tree belongs to the fig tree family and its aerial roots fall to the ground, allowing the tree to grow both vertically and horizontally.
It is also host to hundreds of mynah birds, which were introduced to Hawaii in 1865 to control army worms.
The wildfires in Hawaii have killed at least 36 people and the death toll is expected to rise as locals in Maui continue to “pull bodies out of the water” and frantically search for missing family members.
Imported from India in 1873 at just 8 feet tall. It now stands at over 60 feet tall with 47 major trunks
The tree remains and social media posters have speculated that “only time will tell” whether it will survive
Wildfires on Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui have killed 36
Officials nervously await a presidential emergency — as the state estimates it will face billions of dollars in structural damage
The fires hit Lahaina, the “decimated” city where some 271 buildings were destroyed by the blaze that destroyed 800 acres of land
Maui firefighters are desperate for survivors in the scorched remains of the historic town of Lahaina, which one resident says has been nearly wiped off the map.
All casualties were in Lahaina, the “decimated” city where some 271 buildings have been destroyed by the blaze that devastated 800 acres of land, fanned by strong winds.
Lahaina, the former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, was a center of island history and culture.
Now hundreds of people who lived there are homeless and countless relics have been destroyed.
While the exact source of the fires remains unknown, they started on Tuesday fueled by strong winds from passing Hurricane Dora. Low humidity and a prolonged dry season with desiccated trees also contributed to the disaster, officials said.
As the fires closed all the way to the coastline, frantic local residents jumped into the water in the harbor on Tuesday evening to escape the flames. Twelve people were rescued from the waves by boats.
Concerned Lahaina residents awoke Thursday to photos and videos of their completely destroyed homes.
“We just had the worst disaster I’ve ever seen. All Lahaina is burnt to a crisp.
It’s like an apocalypse,” said one resident.
Another escaped with his wife, kids and dog and slept in a Whole Foods parking lot before waking to the news that their home had been destroyed.
“We arrived on this side of the island at midnight last night, sleeping in a Whole Foods parking lot with my wife and dog. We woke up and got on our phones for pictures of our house down to the plate. Nothing but smoke and embers. We have the clothes we are wearing, a dog and two children. And here we are,” he told NBC News.
A resident told reporters on Wednesday, “There are still corpses floating on the sea wall. They’ve been there since last night. Since last night we’ve been pulling people out to save lives.’
Authorities, who had previously put the death toll at six, are struggling to find shelter for huge numbers of locals and tourists who have fled the inferno, while firefighters are making little progress in fighting the flames.
Some 11,000 people flew out of Maui yesterday and another 1,500 are expected to leave today if they can.