Maui’s famous banyan tree – the largest in the US that spans two acres and has 47 trunks – is scorched by deadly wildfires
- The wildfires on Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui are known to have killed 36
- The devastation has also reached the 150-year-old banyan tree in Lahaina town
- The 60 feet tall tree appears to be still standing but severely damaged
- READ MORE: Maui fire live updates – follow along for all of the latest coverage
The devastating wildfires on Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui are known to have killed 36 and may have claimed another casualty in the island’s historic banyan tree.
The 150-year-old tree in Lahaina town was scorched as wildfires ripped through the area on Wednesday.
Lahaina’s banyan, near the town’s historic courthouse building, is known as the oldest living banyan tree in the US.
The tree was imported from India and planted in front of the courthouse in 1873 at just 8 feet tall.
It now stands at over 60 feet tall with 47 major trunks, and spans nearly two acres, according to the Lahaina Town website.
The 150-year-old tree in Lahaina town covers almost two acres of land near the courthouse
The historic tree remains standing amid the carnage but appears badly burnt
Lahaina’s banyan, near the town’s historic courthouse building, is known as the oldest living banyan tree in the US. Both the tree and the courthouse have been severely damaged.
Videos and pictures posted to social media show the tree badly damaged by fire and surrounded by ruined buildings under a still fiery sky.
Yet the tree remains standing and posters have speculated that ‘only time will tell’ if it will survive.
One user, Panda’s Toybox, posted a video with the caption ‘a ground view of Lahaina today shows the Banyan Tree somehow still stands amidst so much destruction, for those who have been worried.
‘Only time will tell if it survives the injuries sustained in the fires, but it feels like a small beacon of hope in this disaster.’
Another, Tyler Norris, posted a picture of the courthouse and tree before the fire and afterwards writing: ‘This building was the Lahaina Heritage Museum – gone. The tree behind it was the largest banyan tree in the US and the oldest in Hawaii, and one of the most spectacular trees I’ve ever seen. It appears severely burned but still standing.’
The tree is a member of the fig tree family and its aerial roots drape towards the ground, which allow the tree to grow vertically and horizontally.
It is also host to hundreds of mynah birds, which were introduced to Hawaii in 1865 to control army worms.
At least 36 people have been killed in the Hawaii wildfires with the death toll expected to rise as locals continue to ‘pull bodies from the water’ in Maui and frantically search for missing relatives.
Imported from India in 1873 at just 8 feet tall. It now stands at over 60 feet tall with 47 major trunks
The tree remains standing and social media posters have speculated that ‘only time will tell’ if it will survive
The wildfires on Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui are known to have killed 36
Officials are nervously awaiting a presidential declaration of emergency – as the state estimates it will be facing billions of dollars of structural damage
The fires hit Lahaina, the ‘decimated’ town where some 271 buildings have been destroyed by the blaze which has ravaged 800 hectares of land
Maui firefighters are desperately hunting for survivors in the scorched remains of the historic town of Lahaina, which one resident says has nearly been ‘wiped off the map’.
All of the victims were in Lahaina, where some 271 buildings have been destroyed by the blaze which has ravaged 800 hectares of land, fanned by powerful winds.
Lahaina, the former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, was a hub of history and culture on the island.
Now, hundreds of people who lived there are homeless and countless relics have been destroyed.
While the exact source of the fires remains unknown, they began on Tuesday fueled by strong winds from the passing Hurricane Dora. Low humidity and a prolonged drought season which dried trees also contributed to the disaster, according to officials.
As fires closed in all the way up to the shoreline, frantic locals jumped into the water in the harbor to escape the flames on Tuesday night. Twelve people were rescued from the waves by boats.
Distraught residents of Lahaina woke up on Thursday to photos and videos of their homes entirely destroyed.
‘We just had the worst disaster I’ve ever seen. All Lahaina is burnt to a crisp. It’s like an apocalypse,’ said one resident.
Another escaped with his wife, children and dog and slept in a Whole Foods parking lot before waking to the news that their home had been destroyed.
‘We got to this side of the island midnight last night, with my wife and dog, we slept in a parking lot at Whole Foods. We woke up and got on our phones to pictures of our house down to slab. Nothing but smoke and cinders. We have the clothes we got on, a dog and two kids. And here we are,’ he told NBC News.
One local told reporters on Wednesday: ‘We’ve still got dead bodies floating on the seawall. They’ve been sitting there since last night. We’ve been pulling people out since last night, trying to save peoples’ lives.’
Authorities, who had earlier put the death toll at six, are struggling to find shelter for huge numbers of locals and tourists who fled the inferno, while firefighters are making little headway in battling the flames.
Some 11,000 people flew out of Maui yesterday and another 1,500 are expected to leave today if they can.
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