Submitted Photo Lahaina residents flee fire in this photo by the Maui News last week.

Tioga native Jeremy Johnson, a 23-year resident of Maui, has seen a range of human emotions on display since wildfires have destroyed much of the island. The most striking is the pain.

“You can tell when you go into the grocery stores. You can tell by the look on people’s faces that they’ve lost everything – and family. There’s still over a thousand people missing,” said Johnson.

Johnson is among those formerly or currently from the Minot region who are closely watching Maui’s situation due to ties with the Hawaiian island.

Johnson lives in Kihei on the south side of the island. Kihei hasn’t been directly affected by the wildfires, although Johnson said there have been fires in the area, including one that burned within 100 yards of his home.

“But thank God for these heavy construction companies that had all their heavy equipment out there because the fire department was tied up. If it wasn’t for them, I think we would have lost a lot of Kihei,” he said.

A heating and air conditioning specialist, Johnson said his job remains busy, but many hospitality workers will be out of work for some time, unless they can get jobs in reconstruction.

Due to a shortage of housing, there are efforts to repurpose hotels for displaced residents, freeing up the schools that had served as shelters so classes can resume. With the loss of schools to fire, families are coming into cities such as Kihei to enroll their children, Johnson said.

Johnson foresees some families leaving for other islands due to the lack of housing. Currently, many displaced people are doubling up with family and friends whose homes remain intact. He also expects reconstruction and recovery to take time.

“I think it’s going to be 10 years before it starts looking the same – if it ever will be the same,” he said.

Doug Wurtz of Bismarck, a Ryder native who writes a column for The Minot Daily News, said he first visited Maui in 1973. Over the years, he has visited about 14 times, and since marrying, his wife, Linda, has joined him on about a dozen of those trips.

“Maui is one of those islands that felt like a small town. We have done about everything you can do on Maui,” he said, listing biking, scuba diving, parasailing and taking helicopter rides.

Areas shown in news reports as being devastated by fire are familiar ones to them. Reports on the losses in Lahaina, a center of activity in Maui, have been difficult to watch, Wurtz said.

Lahaina attracted him in 1973 with its particularly strong Hawaiian feel, and the city held onto that charm despite major changes that eliminated some of the small shops and eateries over the years, he said.

“It still retained that culture of Hawaii. That’s why we kept going back,” he said.

He said the backyard Hawaiian music, politeness and kindness of the native residents are part of what made Lahaina special, and he worries about the people’s future. His fear is developers will come in and build for the wealthy and for tourists, at the expense of housing for the native people.

Bonnie Rolle of Minot also envisions the damaged areas of the small island restored with high-rise apartments and condominiums. She and her husband, Milt, made more than 20 winter visits to Maui until their last visit in 2020, often spending up to two months in the winter. They previously spent time on the big island, Hawaii, making their first trip in 1960.

The Rolles stayed in Kihei during their most recent stays but have traveled throughout the island.

“It’s very, very sad what’s happened,” Rolle said of the fire damage. “It’s very devastating.”

Rolle said it is sad to see the fire destroy museums and other irreplaceable history, but it is equally sad to see the tourism jobs that people depended on for their livelihoods go up in flames.

Wurtz said he has had to stop watching media scenes of the damage because it is so painful.

“I know what’s around every corner and now to see ashes, it hurts to watch it,” he said. “It will be rebuilt, I am sure, because that’s really prime real estate.”

But he added it won’t be the same.

“The old landmarks will be gone,” he said. “It will be glitzy and clean, but in my mind, it will never be the same Lahaina.”