UPDATE: This story was updated with additional details Monday afternoon.

Smoke was still rising from the Kula Lodge in Upcountry Maui Monday morning, hours after firefighters first responded to a blaze in the restaurant area of the historically significant property and its kitchen.

Firefighters had arrived at the scene shortly after 3 a.m. to find the restaurant building “fully involved,” according to a release issued Monday afternoon by the Maui Fire Department. Details on the extent of the damage were not immediately available, but the department noted that there was potential structural damage.

No one was injured and the fire was contained to the restaurant, according to a message posted earlier in the day on Facebook by Stephanie Mallek, one of the lodge’s owners. Rental accommodations and Kula Marketplace, which are all owned by the Vojdani family and are located on the same property, were not burned and the marketplace would be open for business at noon, Mallek said in the post.

The cause of the fire was still under investigation, Mallek said, and any social media posts suggesting otherwise were false. 

Fred Romanchak acquired the property in 1984, and under his ownership, the property was expanded to include a terrace with outdoor seating, an artisanal pizza oven and picturesque gardens, according to the website. He continued to own and operate the business until his death in 2022. 

Kula Lodge was originally built on the slopes of Mount Haleakalā as a private home in 1948, and the 3,200-foot elevation property was the site of glamorous parties attended by old Hollywood stars like Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra and Spencer Tracy, according to the business’ website.

“This is an iconic place. It’s irreplaceable,” JC Aguilar, the lodge’s director of operations, said. “You cannot replace 80 years of history.”

As of 1:30 p.m., three trucks from the Maui Fire Department remained on site. Although the flames had been extinguished hours before, tendrils of smoke still rose from the restaurant building. The entire backside of the building was charred and black.

“It’s hard to stomach something like this,” Aguilar said, almost exactly two years after a wildfire devastated much of the surrounding neighborhood.

The Kula Lodge has been a gathering place for both locals and tourists for decades, general manager Megan Leake said.

“It’s the place people would bring their aunties for their birthdays, it’s where they’d host baby showers,” Leake said, adding that many people in the community had worked for the business at one time or another.

Following the August 2023 wildfire that destroyed roughly two dozen homes in Kula and burned hundreds of acres, the parking lot of Kula Lodge and Restaurant served as a hub where affected locals could access food, water and other emergency necessities.

After the fire, “the community came back in huge numbers to support us, and I would say that is exactly what we need, unfortunately, again,” Aguilar said. “To support whatever is left of Kula Lodge and Marketplace.”

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated when the lodging and marketplace were expected to reopen.