U.S. officials approved Hawaii’s request to extend federal temporary housing assistance for survivors of the 2023 Maui wildfires through February 2027, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said Friday.
Green said the approval came after U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem approved the extension in a news release. FEMA did not immediately respond to requests for confirmation of the extension, Green said in connection with the request.
The extension comes as nearly 1,000 households displaced by the fires awaited word on whether the federal housing aid that has helped them stay housed would expire, potentially forcing families to find new housing or pay more for it in a rental market Green described as among the tightest and most expensive in the country.
Green said the extension recognized that recovery does not follow a deadline, noting that limited housing stock and Maui’s remote location have made relocation and rebuilding exceptionally difficult for survivors. He also said the state requested another extension in May after few homes had been rebuilt and rental inventory neared zero.
“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.
The Lahaina and Kula fires destroyed 2,200 structures and killed 102 people, according to AP’s account of the disaster. President Joe Biden later declared the wildfires a major disaster, unlocking FEMA assistance for 12,000 displaced people, 89% of whom were renters at the time of the fires. His administration later extended an 18-month program that ended in February 2026.
AP reported that after working with the Red Cross to house 8,000 residents in hotels and other temporary shelters in the initial weeks, FEMA shifted families to other forms of housing assistance. Those options included money for rent, temporary shelters installed on burned properties, and FEMA leasing thousands of units itself to rent back to survivors, though some residents complained about burdensome eligibility requirements and moving multiple times.
Kukui Keahi, a Lahaina fire survivor and associate director of Kako’o Maui Programs at the nonprofit Hawaiian Council, said the extension eased pressure on families waiting for clarity. “It lifted a weight I did not even realize I was carrying, and I know many other families were carrying that same weight too,” she said after learning of the extension.
Steven Hew, a 52-year-old restaurant cashier, told AP he had not heard about FEMA’s decision until the news organization contacted him. Hew said his family’s multigenerational home in Lahaina was burned down in the fires and that he now rents a subsidized apartment from FEMA.
Hew said he was “shaking” after learning the extension was approved and that, without it, many people would have been unsure what to do. “A lot of people were on edge and scared and didn’t know what they were going to do,” he said. He also said: “Somebody had a heart and just said ‘Yes,’ and whoever that person was, I thank them.”
Hew said he plans to save enough money over the next year to rent a place on his own.