Nearly a year after deadly wildfires, Maui’s recovery is still in progress

Rebuilding will be long and complicated.

Nearly a year after wind-whipped flames raced through Kim Ball’s Hawaii community, the empty lot where his house once stood is a symbol of some of the progress being made toward rebuilding after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than century destroyed thousands of homes and killed 102 people in Lahaina.

“Welcome to the neighborhood,” Ball said Wednesday as he greeted a van full of Hawaii reporters invited by Maui County officials to tour certain fire-ravaged sites.