LAHAINA >> The first of an expected 750 Lahaina residents who survived the Aug. 8 wildfires were driven back into the burn zone Friday to provide them with a firsthand update of the nearly yearlong effort to rebuild their beloved town.

Maui County organized 50- passenger vehicles to take residents on 90-minute trips five times a day from Friday through Sunday to get a more comprehensive look at Lahaina for the people who lived there.

The first trip, which left the Lahaina Civic Center at 8 a.m. Friday, carried grief counselors — as will all of the trips planned for this weekend — and was not full, Maui County spokesperson Mahina Martin told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser.

All 750 seats through Sunday had been reserved in the lead-up to the “Remembrance Rides,” as they’re being called, Martin said.

But several people who registered canceled and some then later re-booked as an indication of their mixed emotions of what they might see, she said.

“It’s hard for some people,” Martin said.

In the weeks following the Aug. 8 wildfires, which killed 102 people and left two others unaccounted for, county officials let individual carloads of residents into the burn zone to visit their properties that had been cleared and deemed safe to visit, with precautions.

But the tours organized for this weekend represent the first opportunity for survivors to see for themselves what’s happened on a wider scale across Lahaina during the months since crews began clearing wide swatches of debris.

Large-scale efforts to rebuild Lahaina could take years.

This weekend’s “Remembrance Rides,” as they’re being called, represent a days-long effort by Maui County and community organizers to mark the anniversary starting Aug. 8 over nine events collectively called “Kuhinia Maui” that are scheduled to begin with a “Paddle Out” from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in waters off of Hanaka‘o‘o Beach Park across from the Lahaina Civic Center.

The Paddle Out will be followed by:

>> An Upcountry Aloha Luncheon from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 8 at the Hannibal Tavares (Pukalani) Community Center.

>> A Lahaina memorial marking one year since the wildfires from 5 to 9 p.m. Aug. 8 at the Lahaina Civic Center Gymnasium.

>> An “Aloha for Kupuna” gathering from 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 9 at the Lahaina Civic Center Gymnasium.

>> Puana Aloha no Lahaina “Concert for Lahaina” from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 9 at the Lahaina Civic Center Gymnasium.

>> “Ka Malu ‘Ulu o Lele,”​ performance on the history of Lahaina by Kamehameha Schools Kapalama fifth graders at H.P. Baldwin High School Auditorium from 1 to 2:30 p.m.

>> Lahaina Obon Festival from 5 to 9 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Lahaina Cannery Mall.

>> “Day of Hope & Prayer” from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Lahaina Civic Center Gymnasium.

>> “Upcountry Aloha” music and food event from 4 to 8 p.m. Aug. 11 at Oskie Rice Arena.

The Upcountry Aloha event is meant to honor the efforts of Upcountry Maui’s Rice family, which, in the aftermath of the fires, “opened up the Oskie Rice Arena, and word got out rapidly that it was open to farm and ranch animals,” Martin said.

“It was very clear that the Rice Arena was going to be a place to come,” she said. “It’s that Kula community spirit. It’s a tightknit community, and the community really wanted to acknowledge it as a way to say, ‘We have that kind of spirit.’”

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Anniversary events

For more information on all of the events, visit kuhiniamaui.org.