The monumental task of clearing debris from the Lahaina fire

livemint.com:

LAHAINA, Hawaii—Nearly six months after a wildfire incinerated Lahaina, clean-up crews this week are scheduled to begin clearing the charred rubble to make way for a near-total rebuild—a task that will be extraordinarily complicated due to the sensitive ecology and deep history of this former Hawaiian royal capital. Fire clean-ups are often tricky, but prepping Lahaina for its next phase presents some extra challenges. It’s on a remote island with only one access highway.

A temporary landfill had to be built to hold the debris. Everything from water and dump trucks to bins and dumpsters has had to be brought in from elsewhere. All the while, cultural monitors will be watching to safeguard Native Hawaiian burial sites and other artifacts.

The clean-up will likely take “the better part" of this year, said Maria Delatorre, a debris expert for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is overseeing it in cooperation with state and county authorities. “We need to be able to move all that material behind us so that the rebuilding can start, the permitting, infrastructure, etc.," Delatorre said in an interview on Maui.

“It is critical that we move that off as quickly and efficiently as possible." How to rebuild Lahaina remains to be determined. That task also comes with some challenges. The debris removal will mark an important milestone in Maui’s recovery from the Aug.

8 wildfire which destroyed the town of 13,000 and killed at least 100. With most residents displaced pending a rebuilding that will take years, charred remnants including still-standing concrete walls and crumpled cars remain along the lone highway that runs past Lahaina to the world-famous tourist resorts of West Maui. Clearing out debris from fire-ravaged