'Lahaina will never, ever be the same': Polk native living on Maui joins relief efforts

Gary White, Lakeland Ledger
·5 min read
Mary Bailey, right, is shown with her daughter, Violet. Bailey, a Polk County native, has lived on the Hawaiian island of Maui for 17 years.
Mary Bailey, right, is shown with her daughter, Violet. Bailey, a Polk County native, has lived on the Hawaiian island of Maui for 17 years.

Late last month, Mary Bailey offered an “aloha” as her mother, Dianne Phillips of Auburndale, visited her on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

Bailey, a Polk County native who has lived in Hawaii for 18 years, knew just where to go as she planned an excursion for her mother and her 14-year-old daughter, Violet. The trio ventured to Lahaina, a coastal town on the western edge of Maui, about a one-hour drive from Bailey’s home on the island’s North Shore.

“We had a really beautiful day in Lahaina,” Bailey recalled. “We went out to lunch, and we went shopping. It was a really special day. And I'm so glad that we got to spend it all together there because Lahaina will never, ever be the same.”

About two weeks after that outing, on Aug. 8, Lahaina was engulfed by a fast-moving wildfire that ravaged the historic area. As of Monday, officials reported that the Maui fires had caused at least 114 deaths, making it the nation’s deadliest fire in more than a century.

The conflagration damaged or destroyed an estimated 2,220 structures in Lahaina, according to Pacific Disaster Center. That total includes the restaurant where Bailey had dined with her mother and daughter, Choice Health Bar.

Mary Bailey, a Polk County native, has lived on the Hawaiian island of Maui for 17 years. She has been helping to coordinate relief efforts following the fires on the island.
Mary Bailey, a Polk County native, has lived on the Hawaiian island of Maui for 17 years. She has been helping to coordinate relief efforts following the fires on the island.

As Maui continues to grapple with the aftermath of the fires, Bailey is contributing to local efforts to help those displaced by the disaster.

“It’s really been quite devastating, specifically because, first, we're so remote out here,” she said by phone Friday from Maui. “Second, because people are not only losing their homes and their cars and all their belongings but they're also losing all their jobs — because the area that burned had hundreds of businesses. And so now all of their staff are out of employment, on top of losing their homes. So it's just been a compound fracture, really.”

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Bailey, 40, spent her childhood in Winter Haven and graduated from Lake Region High School in 2001. She moved to Hawaii four years later to attend the University of Hawaii and has lived on Maui for 17 years. Bailey resides with her daughter in Haiku, a village on the northern coast of the island’s larger section, about 25 miles east of Lahaina.

Though not a native Hawaiian, Bailey has forged many connections on Maui. She now serves as managing director of The Last Prisoner Project, a criminal justice reform nonprofit that she helped found. Before that, she was the CEO of a production company that coordinated and hosted events throughout Maui.

Bailey said at least 20 of her friends lost homes to the fires, and some saw their businesses destroyed. As of Friday, she had not heard of any friends who died in the blazes.

While Lahaina suffered the most destruction, Bailey noted that fires have damaged two other locations on Maui, including Kula, only about 20 minutes away to the south. The first night of the fires, Bailey said, a family of four from Kula took shelter at her home in Haiku.

Burned houses and buildings are seen in Lahaina. Thousands were displaced after a wildfire fueled by winds from Hurricane Dora and dry vegetation destroyed much of the town. The death toll from the fire makes it the deadliest wildfire of the past U.S.
Burned houses and buildings are seen in Lahaina. Thousands were displaced after a wildfire fueled by winds from Hurricane Dora and dry vegetation destroyed much of the town. The death toll from the fire makes it the deadliest wildfire of the past U.S.

“And then two other friends, also from Upcountry, could see the fires from their homes, so they came over,” Bailey said. “So we had six guests in our house the first night.”

Bailey was scheduled to leave on a business trip Monday, and she arranged for a displaced family of three to occupy her home during her absence.

Bailey serves on the board of the Common Ground Collective, a nonprofit that promotes food security and economic and educational opportunities on Maui. She said the group has been working with other organizations to provide food for first-responders and people in shelters. As of Friday, she said the collective had disbursed more than 60,000 meals.

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Many of the restaurants destroyed on Maui operated farms on the North Shore and are now donating produce for inclusion in the meals, Bailey said.

“So I've been helping coordinate with the farmers and have also been helping with fundraising efforts,” she said. “This is a very expensive project, so it's important that we have the funding so we can procure all the supplies needed.”

Bailey is also coordinating with a group called Burners Without Borders, volunteer relief workers affiliated with the annual Burning Man gathering. She said the group will provide builders, engineers, carpenters, contractors, electricians and plumbers to help with rebuilding projects on Maui.

Like many Maui residents, Bailey expressed frustration with the government response to the tragedy and the lack of official information available. She said residents are taking action to fill the gap.

Hawaiians are donating solar generators, coolers, portable stoves and other items for those still left without power, she said.

“People are bringing it on boats and then using Jetskis to be able to deliver it to people,” Bailey said. “Hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands, of local Maui citizens have come together to really support those in need.”

The main section of Lahaina was known as a tourist destination, featuring a bar owned by Mick Fleetwood of the band Fleetwood Mac. But Bailey said Lahaina is also “a very sacred place in Hawaiian culture.” Her favorite restaurant, Papa’aina at the Pioneer Inn, was housed in the oldest hotel still operating in Hawaii, now devoured by the fire.

The peaceful heart of the village is Lahaina Banyan Court Park, home to a sprawling banyan tree planted in 1873. Phillips said she took photos of her daughter standing under the tree when Bailey was pregnant.

The fire charred the banyan tree, though arborists say it might survive the damage.

An iconic 150-year-old Banyan tree in Lahaina, Hawaii was found still standing after the Maui town was devastated by a deadly fire.
An iconic 150-year-old Banyan tree in Lahaina, Hawaii was found still standing after the Maui town was devastated by a deadly fire.

“This has been heart-wrenching for everybody,” Bailey said. “It's so sad to see an entire historic town completely demolished. And I feel that a lot of our community members are finding a lot of healing in doing the relief work and helping people when we don't know what else to do with ourselves, with the sadness and the frustration and the overwhelm. I feel like the volunteering is really helping people deal with the trauma.”

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County native provides help after fires on home island of Maui