Lahaina Fire Cleanup

  • Client: ECC
  • Location: Lahaina, HI
  • Year of Completion: 2024
  • Contract Category: $1M-5M
  • Debris (tons): 2,600 at 100% diversion
  • Categories: Infrastructure / Heavy Civil, Abatement and Remediation, Emergency Response

Scope

  • In early August 2023, wind-driven wildfires broke out across Hawaii, predominantly on the island of Maui, causing catastrophic destruction in Lahaina, where at least 102 people were killed, more than 2,200 structures were destroyed, and damages were estimated at nearly $6 billion.
  • Federal, state, and local emergency declarations were issued between August 8 and August 10, activating the Hawaii National Guard, FEMA, and other agencies to respond to the disaster.
  • Later in 2023, FEMA contracted the overall recovery work with a federal contractor, who subcontracted the asset recovery portion of the project to FERMA Corporation.
  • FERMA began work in April 2024, providing heavy equipment, material processing equipment, and skilled personnel to support private property debris removal efforts in Lahaina.
  • Project activities included separating, condensing, and packaging remnant ferrous metal materials, as well as coordinating transportation of loaded containers from the Lahaina collection facility.
  • Coordination efforts required constant communication with port operators across multiple Hawaiian Islands and international processing facilities in Bangladesh and Taiwan that received the recycled materials.