Lahaina wildfire survivors are homeless and living in beach encampments eight months after Hawaii's deadliest blaze ripped through the Maui town and displaced thousands

It's an incongruous sight. 

On one side, there's glorious golden sand and gleaming blue water, with rows of palm trees lining a strip of luxury hotels, complete with tiki bars and silver service restaurants.

But on the edge of Kāʻanapali Beach, a shabby row of tents has sprung up: their occupants largely ignored by the bikini-clad tourists strolling by.

Now DailyMail.com can reveal that many of those tents are occupied by survivors of the Lahaina wildfire that ripped through the small Maui town last August, claiming at least 101 lives – making it the worst natural disaster in Hawaiian history.

Most of the tent owners lost everything they owned in the blaze, and have ended up living on the beach after being kicked out of the temporary hotel housing they were given in the immediate aftermath of the fire. 

Eight months after Hawaii's worst wildfire decimated the Maui town of Lahaina, many of the displaced residents remain homeless and are now living in tents 

DailyMail.com visited the town last week and witnessed the shoddy makeshift encampments that have popped up at local parks and beaches

Most of the tent owners lost everything they owned in the fire and have ended up living on the beach as landlords of available rental homes prefer to lease their properties to tourists 

The devastating fire claimed the lives of at least 101 people and destroyed approximately 80% of the town last August 

Kailani Koa, 64, was among the displaced Lahaina residents placed in a temporary housing at a hotel after losing her home in the blaze, and now living in the parking lot of Hanakao'o Park 

Lahaina local identified only as 'Bradda', 41, (center) and Tai Hoefer, 60 (right) are living at an encampment at the parking lot of Hanakao'o Park and are now nervously waiting to be moved on after local authorities gave them two weeks to vacate the park

And while the most prominent, the Kāʻanapali Beach camp isn't the only one. 

The three-mile stretch of road between Kāʻanapali and Lahaina is dotted with encampments, including one at Hanakao'o Park and several at Wahikuli Wayside Park.

Fire victim is Kailani Koa, 64, who works at Kahului airport, has ended up living in a tent in the parking lot of Hanakao'o Park after losing her home and most of her possessions in the blaze.

Her house is now a large blue tent while bathing comes courtesy of a nearby beach shower and drinking water from a leaky bucket set up close to her tent.

She says she was booted out of temporary accommodation at the $364-a-night Royal Lahaina Resort three months ago and has received little help beyond what she gets from her church.

Kailani says she has begged Lahaina mayor Richard Bissen for help to no avail and called on Hawaii Governor Josh Green to come to the town and witness her plight.

She said: 'Tell him to come down here. Pitch his tent next to mine and go take a cold shower like how we do and use the barbecue fire to cook.

'Then maybe he can talk to me. It upsets me how things have ended up. It upsets all of us.'

The three-mile stretch of road between Kāʻanapali and Lahaina is dotted with encampments, including one at Hanakao'o Park and several at Wahikuli Wayside Park

According to locals, little is being done to help displaced residents and FEMA is instead offering families cash to relocate elsewhere 

On Kāʻanapali Beach, displaced residents are trying to raise awareness of their plight by festooning the camp with signs emblazoned with slogans such as 'You want workers, we need housing NOW' and 'Keep our people in West Maui'

Living in the same camp as Kailani is Tai Hoefer, 60, who shares a tent with his two dogs Pepe and Mochi.

Like Kailani, he was also kicked out of temporary accommodation at the Royal Lahaina and complains that little is being done to help locals like him find rental homes, telling DailyMail.com that more than 70 per cent of the town's rental units are Airbnbs providing vacation accommodation.

The dire living conditions means Koa must use a nearby beach shower to bathe and drinking water comes from a leaky bucket set up close to her tent

Although Federal disaster agency FEMA offered to rent units for fire victims at three times the going rate, most landlords have demurred – preferring short term profits to long term tenants. 

Hoefer said: 'If this was anywhere else, [charity] Habitat For Humanity would be here putting up homes. But not here.'

He added: 'We woke up in the middle of that fire and barely made it out with our lives and now we're here with no resources.'

He and his friend who goes by the name 'Bradda', 41, are now nervously waiting to be moved on, having been informed by the local authorities they have two weeks to vacate the park.

Bradda said: 'Once they kick us out of here, we've got nowhere to go. Tell the government they need to make some rules.

'They refuse to listen to us. Even though FEMA offers triple rent to the Airbnbs, they still won't rent them out to us and now people will have to move.'

The small beach town was consumed by a vicious fire whipped up by the gales that tore through its wooden buildings in less than 20 minutes and left at least 101 people dead 

When DailyMail.com visited last week, diggers could be seen clearing plots of land but many still contained the detritus of burned buildings while others even had burnt-out cars still rusting on them

Many have already done just that with FEMA offering relocation assistance to fire victims who want to go to other parts of Maui, other Hawaiian Islands and even the mainland US.

One of the luckier ones is Benny Reinicke, 30, a personal trainer who made headlines due to his heroics during the fire – when he carried a grandmother over the sea wall to safety and then stayed with a group of women in the water all night until they could be rescued.

Home for Benny is now the Kāʻanapali Hyatt hotel, which along with the neighboring Westin, is one of two hotels still housing fire victims.

Although grateful for the help he receives from the Red Cross, he told DailyMail.com the situation is far from ideal and that he has to check in with management every four days.

If he doesn't, he says, the Red Cross will assume he has found housing and return the room he lives in to the Hyatt which will then use it as tourist accommodation once more.

He says he finds it insulting that FEMA is offering families cash to relocate elsewhere and says the agency should focus on rebuilding homes in the town itself.

Progress on that front appears to be glacial. 

Lahaina resident Benny Reinicke, 30, is one of the lucky ones still being housed in a Hyatt hotel. He told DailyMail.com it's 'insulting' that FEMA is offering families cash to relocate elsewhere and says the agency should focus on rebuilding homes in the town itself

According to locals, '60 percent' of residents have already moved out and families are relocating 'every day' due to the lack of support from the government 

Despite the locals' ongoing plight, the beach town is still attracting bikini-clad tourists who are occupying most of the available rentals 

When DailyMail.com visited last week, diggers could be seen clearing plots of land but many still contained the detritus of burned buildings while others even had burnt-out cars still rusting on them.

Benny said: 'It is the most insulting thing you can do, really. I kept getting calls from FEMA and what I was getting was basically an auction of where I would like to go next.

'The conversation becomes: 'Hey, if you want to get out of here, I can get you a plane ticket to go anywhere in the mainland. Just say the word and we'll get you a flight to Nevada or California'.

'And that is insulting because this is my home. I had no plans of going anywhere and through no fault of my own, I'm in this predicament now and it is insulting to the highest order.

'We've lost 60 percent of our residents already and that is so unfortunate. It's super sad because literally every day there's a family moving away because they've given up.'

Back at the encampment on Kāʻanapali Beach, the residents are trying to raise awareness of their plight by festooning the camp with signs emblazoned with slogans such as 'You want workers, we need housing NOW' and 'Keep our people in West Maui'.

Residents had awoken to reports of a brush fire early that morning on August 8, 2023, and by midnight, the town was entirely consumed by flames 

A general view shows the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii on August 21. Hawaii's electric utility acknowledged its power lines started a wildfire on Maui but faulted county firefighters for declaring the blaze contained and leaving the scene

A petition has been launched to force Mayor Bissen and Governor Green to use emergency powers to seize Airbnbs and convert them into long term rentals for fire victims, along with protections for renters and mortgage deferments for those whose homes were burned down but are still being asked to pay.

DailyMail.com has contacted both Bissen and Green for comment.

Under a Hawaiian flag with a Union Jack in the corner snapping in the breeze is Ha Lee, 69, who drags a cart filled with her meager possessions to her tent in full view of a group of disinterested sunbathers.

'It should not be like this,' she told DailyMail.com. 'I'm 69 and living in a tent. I don't know how much longer I can live like this. We need help getting into homes now.'