The Lāhainā banyan tree is pictured the day after devas - tating wildfires burned the historic town, killing dozens. PHOTO COURTESY PROMETHEUS CONSTRUCTION / KATE CADY
SAVING LĀHAINĀ’S Beloved Banyan Three weeks after the fire, fresh new leaves sprout BY PAULA BENDER
W hile there was very little that could be saved as a deadly wildfire swept through Lāhainā, what did survive surely deserves another chance at life. Such is the case for Lāhainā’s beloved banyan tree, scorched in the Aug. 8 fire that melted metal and engulfed struc- tures for blocks. On Aug. 31, the tree sprouted new leaves, marking the begin- ning of the renewal process. Growing through two centuries and currently spanning nearly two acres, the Ficus benghalensis in question was imported from India as an eight-foot- tall sapling and planted 150 years ago by Protestant missionaries at the behest of Queen Keōpūolani, the sacred wife of King Kamehameha the Great, to honor their 50 years in Lāhainā. In India, Ficus benghalensis is considered sacred and every part of the tree yields medicinal applications. It is also revered for its capacity to survive catastrophe.
door would play under and on and around the tree when freed from their studies. “Sometimes you don’t know how
deep and powerful a relationship you have until you think it’s going to be gone — especially some of the relationships we form as chil-
Leaves sprout on the historic Lāhainā banyan on Aug. 31. PHOTO COURTESY PROMETHEUS CONSTRUCTION / RYAN GRANT
Cliff Tillotson
dren,” Tillotson says. When he told his six-year-old grandson about saving the banyan, he was put on the spot. “What about the other trees?” asked the six-year-old, speaking with insur- mountable wisdom. Reports confirm not only is the banyan being cared for after the flames swept Lāhainā, but trees considered exceptional, such as ulu trees that are even older than the banyan, are getting care as well. Says Tillotson: “We don‘t want people thinking that we are only look- ing to save one tree.”
The day after the worst of the fire, Cliff Tillotson, vice president of Prometheus Construction on O‘ahu, reached out to fellow general contrac- tors on Maui to see if the tree could be saved. In his small-kid-time days, Tillotson climbed and bounced from branch to branch on the banyan when he would go to Lāhainā in the summers away from Wilson Elementary School. He says children from the Kamehameha Elementary School next
12 | BUILDING INDUSTRY HAWAII | OCTOBER 2023
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