FEMA hosts traditional blessing and opening ceremony for new Kilohana Temporary Group Housing Site in Lahaina

LAHAINA, Maui -The Federal Emergency Management Agency opened its new Kilohana temporary group housing site today, hosting a traditional blessing ceremony and welcoming the first wildfire survivors into its modular units.

Once completed, Kilohana will offer 167 temporary homes to support survivors of the Lahaina wildfire as they rebuild their lives and work toward securing permanent housing. As of Nov. 18, 94 of the units had been delivered to the group housing site at Fleming Road and Malo Street. The units will come with basic furnishings and will provide utilities.

"Together, we are building more than a temporary housing for fire survivors," said FEMA's Region 9 Administrator Robert J. Fenton. "We are building a foundation for resilience, recovery, and renewal for the people of West Maui."

FEMA hired three companies - Dynamic, Timberline and Acuity - to manufacture the one-, two- and three-bedroom modular units in the continental United States and then ship them to Maui. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was brought in to prepare the 34-acre group housing site.

The modular homes have been built to last 30 years or more. It is the first time that FEMA has built temporary homes - known as Alternative Transportable Temporary Housing Units - that meet local and international building codes.

FEMA would then have the option of reallocating the units once they are no longer needed for temporary housing, helping to increase Maui's housing stock. Kilohana is located next to a state temporary housing project, Ka Laʻi Ola, which is installing prefabricated homes for up to 450 individuals and families displaced by the wildfires.

For the latest information on the Maui wildfire recovery efforts, visit mauicounty.gov, mauirecovers.org, fema.gov/disaster/4724 and Hawaii Wildfires - YouTube. Follow FEMA on social media: @FEMARegion9 and facebook.com/fema.