Maui County officials select final disposal site for debris from Lahaina wildfire

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii officials plan to send debris and ash from the August wildfire that destroyed Lahaina town to Maui’s central landfill. Maui County officials said Wednesday that they picked the permanent disposal site in Kahului over two others that are closer to Lahaina, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century killed 101 people and destroyed 3,000 properties, leaving behind burned cars, charred beams and toxic ash. Officials estimate the debris will fill 400,000 truckloads, which is roughly enough to cover five football fields five stories high. Shayne Agawa, director of the county’s Department of Environmental Management, says officials evaluated potential sites for months and studied the results of two surveys.