Volunteers in the historic town of Lahaina, Hawaii are continuing the effort to keep its iconic 150-year-old banyan tree alive following the devastating Maui fires.
The tree is one of many structures damaged in the fires that ravaged Maui earlier this month, killing at least 115 people and leaving at least 388 still unaccounted for. The fires have scorched thousands of acres of land and damaged or destroyed major structures of significance across the island.
While many historic and irreplaceable landmarks were lost, such as the 200-year-old Waiola Church, the banyan tree has thus far escaped the flames still standing, though it has been scorched.
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‘In a coma’
According to arborist Steve Nimz, who is part of the effort to restore the tree, the lower trunks still have living tissue under the bark, which is a good sign. The leaves and twigs on the major branches of tree, however, have all been burnt and are no longer viable.
A team of experts comprised of arborists and landscapers have come together to put a plan in action, said Nimz, which includes bringing water in from a mile away to shoot onto the tree from the top of large water trucks. After removing ash and providing moisture from these water cannons, water is also introduced to the ground beneath the tree.
Besides providing the tree with ample moisture, the team has also turned to the soil the tree lives in, making a compost mixture of organic matter to provide nutrients and stimulate growth in the tree’s roots.
“[The tree] is kind of in a coma,” Nimz told USA TODAY. “So, it’s just like when you’re in a coma, they give you intravenous fluids in your veins and they keep your vital signs going until they see you blink or move a finger or something. So, we’re doing the same thing with the tree.”
He said the team is closely monitoring the tree for signs of that “blink,” which could be a new, green bud popping up or an indication from the sensors they’ve installed that movement, such as sap traveling or expansion or contraction in the trunk, has been detected.
For now, he said, it’s a waiting game.
“People are in a coma for a few days, a month, a year, two years, but as long as their vital signs and everything else are still there, then we keep them on life support, correct? said Nimz. ” There are good signs that the tree will recover…. let’s put it this way, it’s up to the tree. The tree is either going to respond or it’s going say it’s time to go,” he said.
While Nimz assured the team of professionals is working their hardest to give the iconic tree a chance, he also reiterated that, ultimately, the tree is beloved but not as important as the mass displacement, destruction, and lives lost to the fire.
“The most important thing is the people, their lives and how people were killed and their homes were lost and everything else that’s going on there,” he said. “The tree is a tree and we’re doing everything we can, but it’s not anywhere near as important as everything else that’s going on.”
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What is the Lahaina banyan tree?
Among the Maui landmarks threatened by fire is the largest banyan tree in the U.S, which was planted in 1873 after being imported from India to honor the 50th anniversary of the first protestant missionaries to arrive in the area.
The tree, which turned 150 years old in April, spans 1.94 acres in length and stands more than 60 feet tall. Its 16 trunks total a quarter mile in circumference, making it not only the largest in the U.S. but one of the largest in the world, according to the official Lahaina website.
Also home to hundreds of mynah birds, the tree is known as “the heartbeat of Lahaina Town” and sits in Lahaina Banyan Court Park, which was impacted by the fires.
Where is Lahaina?
Maui’s Lahaina Town, once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is revered for its religious and cultural significance.
Lahaina, which has a population of around 13,000, according to the 2020 U.S. Census, has been inhabited for over 1,000 years and played a significant role in Hawaiian history, serving as the seat of important royal and religious happenings.
Home to cemeteries that house the final resting places of royalty, streets that trace their roots to the 1700s, and the now-burned-down 200-year-old Waiola Church, devastation brought to the town by the fires is not only structural, but deeply cultural.
Entire blocks in the town have been razed by the flames. While the full extent of the damage is still being determined, previous reporting by USA TODAY heard accounts from locals saying the town has been “burned down to ashes.”