"One of the most complicated wildfire cleanup missions in recent memory is now underway on the Hawaiian island of Maui, where fleets of workers and equipment are being shipped to the island while officials plot how to carefully but quickly remove hundreds of thousands of tons of toxic debris.

Federal authorities are working with wary locals to negotiate significant logistical hurdles not found in the aftermath of blazes on the mainland United States, and they are attempting to navigate the delicate dynamics of disaster cleanup in a place as historically and culturally important as the ruined town of Lahaina.

Maui’s island geography presents the most obvious challenge, because everything that happens in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is more complex and costly. But even beynd that, it is no normal cleanup. The horrific, historic toll from last month’s wildfire — which now stands at 97 people dead and at least 23 missing — has left many residents fearing there are still human remains among the ash."

Reis Thebault reports for the Washington Post September 25, 2023. [2]