Many on Maui are rethinking aloha spirit after fire
LAHAINA >> Pa‘ele Kiakona is not ready to go back to work. Still reeling after August’s wildfires ravaged his hometown of Lahaina, he doesn’t want to serve tourists, pouring brut champagne or topping their mai tais with honey- lilikoi foam.
“I’ve seen people dead on the street,” Kiakona said. “My grandma’s house is gone. My whole town died.”
The 28-year-old Hawaii native who worked as a bartender at a farm-to-table restaurant north of Lahaina is wary of fielding questions, including what he says is now the ultimate dreaded icebreaker: “Did you lose your house in the fire?”
