Maui, A Hollywood Favorite Hawaiian Getaway, Faces Tragic Fire: A Report From The Heart Of Paradise

Pete Hammond
·5 min read
10

The texts were ringing like crazy this morning. “Are you in Maui? Are you okay?” Fortunately, yes, just fine. But Maui, the second-biggest Island in Hawaii, continues to fight massive wildfires that started Tuesday and virtually destroyed the classic town of Lahaina (capital of Hawaii at one time) and a tourist mecca.

Flames have reportedly destroyed hundreds of homes and some businesses in a paradise that has long been a favorite getaway — and even home for many entertainment luminaries, including Oprah Winfrey, Clint Eastwood, Steven Tyler, Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Kris Kristofferson and Jeff Bezos, among many more. Mick Fleetwood not only lives on the island, but has a popular restaurant, Fleetwood’s On Front Street, that was situated right in the path of where the fire was most fierce in picturesque Lahaina, a city described now as looking like a bombed-out war zone.

More from Deadline

I come here every summer and am currently in Maui in Wailea at the Four Seasons, often a favored hotel for industryites. Fortunately, it is on the other side of the island, about 27 miles away from Lahaina and currently in no threat of evacuation. Unlike West Maui, where unspeakable tragedy — six reported deaths so far — is taking place. We are here in honor this year of our 30th wedding anniversary, returning as we do each year to the islands where we got married in 1993 (that was on the Big Island, also a spot being challenged by these fires flamed by Hurricane Dora, which passed 700 miles away, but still is responsible for generating devastating winds of 60 mph or more — no friend of fire). Sadly, our friends who flew in from Maui to the Big Island as witnesses for our private morning wedding in 1993 have just become two of many who had to evacuate, and are now waiting to hear if their home is even still standing.

It is all kind of strange, as Wailea is untouched and still in vacation mode, while just across the ocean, you could see massive smoke clouds and orange skies. The mood went from idyllic to horrifying. To put it in movie terms, as someone said to me earlier today, “It is like Barbie suddenly turned into Oppenheimer.”

West Maui still has no cell service, internet, or power in most areas of it. Last night, the Four Seasons lobby, usually pretty chill, was practically overrun by tourists and some locals fleeing the fire in search of rooms. The hotel is now completely full. The sudden demand had the staff scrambling to return after leaving for the day. The hotel even opened its ballroom for employees affected, as well as other locals needing a place to stay. Quite a scene. I even spotted people sleeping on lounge chairs or couches until hopefully getting a room. No doubt other hotels in Wailea experienced the same influx.

You can always count on the good souls in the entertainment industry to help when it is most needed. One of those is longtime Maui resident, agent, manager, producer and all-around mensch Shep Gordon, a definite legend who even had a 2014 documentary made about him by Mike Myers called Supermensch. He also co-owns Humble Market Kitchen with famed chef Roy Yamaguchi in Wailea, and I hear they are busy trying to set up feeding locations. I hear José Andrés was sending an emergency team to help. Andrés, a world famous Spanish chef who is founder of World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit devoted to providing meals in areas of natural disasters, was himself the subject of a 2022 documentary We Feed People, directed by Ron Howard.

Reportedly this morning, 2000 tourists were at the airport, ready to be transported to Oahu and temporary setups at the Hawaii Convention Center. I know at least one studio exec set to leave this morning had their flight to L.A. delayed four times and then canceled, and were hoping to get another flight out. Locals are devastated at the incalculable losses, including the sacred 150-year-old Banyan Tree in the heart of Lahaina, the wharf, and the Maui Museum, the latter with irreplaceable artifacts from Hawaiian history.

This all reminded me of the second trip we made to Hawaii in 1992. We were in Kauai, staying at the Princeville on the North Shore. We left just about three days before, as it turned out, disaster struck in the form of Hurricane Iniki, which would devastate Kauai and, among other places, shut down Princeville Hotel for nearly two years. Then-married couple Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith and family were among those sheltering in place in the basement. The famed Coco Palms hotel, where Elvis Presley made 1961’s Blue Hawaii, was also shut down, and hasn’t reopened to this day. Jurassic Park was shooting on Kauai and producer Kathy Kennedy famously was at the airport trying to get everyone out safely before it was too late.

It may be paradise, but island life can sometimes turn into a real-life version of a disaster movie. We are lucky to be out of the center of this one. But others aren’t, and so we hope for the best on the long road to recovery ahead.

UPDATE: Maui Film Commissioner Tracy Bennett has added a Go Fund Me page in a plea to the entertainment community.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.