KAHULUI, Hawaii (AP) — Dissipating smoke and ash revealed the sheer devastation that a wildfire left behind in Lahaina Town, one of Hawaii’s most historic cities and onetime capital of the former kingdom.

At least 36 people were killed and hundreds of structures were damaged or destroyed in the blaze that sparked Tuesday and quickly spread throughout the western Maui community of less than 13,000 residents.

It’s feared that the fire consumed much of historic Front Street, home to restaurants, bars, stores and what is believed to be the United States’ largest banyan — a fig tree with roots that grow out of branches and eventually reach the soil, becoming more trunklike features that expand the size of the tree — as well as other parts of Lahaina.

Richard Olsten, a helicopter pilot with tour operator Air Maui, said he and other pilots and mechanics flew over the scene Wednesday before work to take stock.

“All the places that are tourist areas, that are Hawaiian history, are gone, and that can’t be replaced. You can’t refurbish a building that’s just ashes now. It can’t be rebuilt — it’s gone forever,” he said.

“It’s a huge impact and blow on the history of Hawaii and Maui and Lahaina,” Olsten said.

For Francine Hollinger, a 66-year-old Native Hawaiian, the news was painful since Front Street represented history.

“It’s like losing a family member … because they’ll never be able to rebuild it, like we wouldn’t be able to bring back our mother or father,” she said.

The full extent of loss won’t be known until officials can assess the damage done by the flames, fanned by winds caused in part by Hurricane Dora moving westward hundreds of miles to the south of the island state.

The Lahaina Historic District includes the downtown, Front Street and neighbouring areas, and is home to more than 60 historic sites, according to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

A National Historic Landmark since 1962, it encompasses more than 16,000 acres (6,500 hectares) and covers ocean waters stretching a mile (1.6 kilometres) offshore from the storied buildings.

One of them is the 200-year-old, two-story stone Wainee Church, later renamed Waiola, which has kings and queens buried in its graveyard. Its hall, which can seat up to 200 people, was photographed apparently engulfed in flames this week.

After Kamehameha unified Hawaii under a single kingdom by defeating the other islands’ chiefs, he made Lahaina his royal residence. His successors made it the capital from 1820 to 1845, according to the National Park Service.

“It was really the political centre for Hawaii,” said Davianna McGregor, a retired professor of ethnic studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Lahainaluna High School was where royalty and chiefs were educated, and also where King Kamehameha III and his Council of Chiefs drafted the first Declaration of Rights of the People and the Constitution for the Hawaiian Kingdom.

“So in that transition, from going from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy, the ruling chiefs in and around Lahaina and those educated at Lahainaluna played very prominent roles in our governance at that time,” McGregor said.

The capital was moved to Honolulu in 1845, but Lahaina’s palace remained a place where royalty would visit.