HONOLULU (AP) — U.S. officials have granted a request to extend housing assistance for survivors of catastrophic 2023 wildfires, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Friday.
Nearly 1,000 households displaced by fire were anxiously awaiting word on whether federal assistance helping them stay housed will be left to expire, forcing them to find new housing or pay more for it in one of the tightest and most expensive rental environments in the country.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem approved Hawaii’s request to extend Federal Emergency Management Agency temporary housing assistance for Maui wildfire survivors until February 2027, Green said in a news release.
FEMA did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation of the extension.
“It lifted a weight I did not even realize I was carrying, and I know many other families were carrying that same weight too,” Kukui Keahi, a Lahaina fire survivor and associate director of Kako’o Maui Programs at the nonprofit Hawaiian Council, said after learning of the extension.
The fires in Lahaina and Kula, in Maui’s upcountry region, destroyed 2,200 structures and killed 102 people. Then-President Joe Biden declared a major disaster, unlocking FEMA assistance to help 12,000 displaced people, 89% of whom were renters at the time of the fires. His administration eventually extended the 18-month program until February 2026.
But with few homes rebuilt and rental inventory nearing zero, the state requested another extension in May.
“Recovery doesn’t follow an artificial deadline and I appreciate Secretary Noem and the administration for recognizing the reality families are still facing on the ground here in Hawai‘i,” Green said.
While megafires in other states have destroyed more homes, Maui’s fires created a unique crisis. Limited housing stock and the island’s remote location from the mainland U.S. made relocating survivors and rebuilding exceptionally difficult.
FEMA, the state, county, and nonprofits all scrambled to find solutions to house the displaced, most of whom were desperate to stay near Lahaina to be close to work, schools and the community.
After working with the Red Cross to house 8,000 residents in hotels and other temporary shelters in the initial weeks, FEMA slowly transitioned families to other forms of housing assistance.
It offered money for rent, installed temporary shelters on burned properties, and leased thousands of units itself to rent back to survivors, though some complained of burdensome eligibility requirements and having to move several times.
Steven Hew had not heard about FEMA’s decision until The Associated Press contacted him. The 52-year-old restaurant cashier rents a subsidized apartment from FEMA after the fire burned down his family’s multigenerational home in Lahaina.
Hew was “shaking” after hearing the news. “A lot of people were on edge and scared and didn’t know what they were going to do,” if the assistance was not extended, he said.
“Somebody had a heart and just said ‘Yes,’ and whoever that person was, I thank them,” said Hew.
He plans to save enough money over the next year to rent a place on his own.
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Aoun Angueira reported from San Diego, California.
FILE - A general view of the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
FILE - Burned cars and propane tanks with markings on them sit outside a house destroyed by wildfire, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)
SPINDLERUV MLYN, Czechia (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin earned a place on the podium of a World Cup giant slalom for the first time in two years Saturday, finishing third in the last GS before the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The race was won by defending Olympic champion Sara Hector, who held on to her opening run lead for her first victory since January 2025.
“You always have to keep working, it's so many strong girls as you can see today,” the Swedish winner said in a course-side interview. “I am super happy that in the end I crossed the finish line first. That's a really cool feeling.”
Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic GS gold medalist, trailed Hector by 0.23 seconds and the American shared the podium with second-placed teammate Paula Moltzan, who was 0.18 off the pace.
Shiffrin holds the women’s record for most career World Cup GS wins with 22 but hadn’t had a top-three result in the discipline in 11 events since coming runner-up at a race in Slovakia in January 2024.
Six days later, she crashed in a downhill on the course that will be used for the Olympics next month and then didn’t compete in GS again until the start of the 2024-25 season.
In November 2024, she sustained a puncture wound to the right side of her abdomen and severe damage to her oblique abdominal muscles in a crash at her home GS in Killington, Vermont, and subsequently suffered from lingering post-traumatic stress disorder.
This season, Shiffrin racked up three fourth places before ultimately returning to the podium Saturday, three weeks before the Olympic race in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Moltzan, who's chasing her maiden career win, got her third podium of the season, leading a strong showing by the U.S. team, with Nina O’Brien in fifth and AJ Hurt in eighth.
In the opening run, Hector edged out Camille Rast of Switzerland by 0.02 seconds, with GS rankings leader Julia Scheib of Austria 0.26 back in third.
Rast dropped to fourth, while Scheib skied out in the final run.
Overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone, who made a strong return to racing from a nine-month injury layoff on Tuesday, and her Italian teammate Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic downhill champion, sat out the event in Czechia, with a weekend of speed racing coming up in Switzerland next week ahead of their home Olympics.
A slalom on the same hill is scheduled for Sunday.
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
United States' Paula Moltzan speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin at finish line during a women's alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Sweden's Sara Hector, centre, winner of a women's alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, poses with second placed United States' Paula Moltzan, left, and third placed United States' Mikaela Shiffrin in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Sweden's Sara Hector, right, and United States' Mikaela Shiffrin at finish line during a women's alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
From left, United States' Mikaela Shiffrin, Sweden's Sara Hector and United States' Paula Moltzan at finish line during a women¥s alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Austria's Julia Scheib speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
Switzerland's Camille Rast speeds down the course during a women¥s World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
Sweden's Sara Hector speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
