HONOLULU (AP) — The parties involved in Lahaina wildfire lawsuits against the state of Hawaii, Maui County and utilities are close to a global settlement of claims that will be worth a little over $4 billion, Gov. Josh Green told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

Green said he’s hoping to finalize the details in coming days, perhaps as soon as Aug. 6, which would be two days before the one-year anniversary of the fire that killed 102 people and wiped out historic Lahaina.

“If that could happen, it would be great. I humbly invite all the parties to finalize the agreement,” Green said in an interview at his office. “It appears that we are almost there, and we only have a very tiny holdout remaining.”

He said all the plaintiffs and defendants have agreed to the global settlement number but final details are pending.

More than 600 lawsuits have been filed over the deaths and destruction caused by the fires. In the spring, a judge appointed mediators and ordered all parties to participate in settlement talks.

“Then on July 18, 2024, the Court, along with undoubtedly many others, learned for the first time details of what media reports purported to be a ‘global settlement,’” Judge Peter Cahill, who is overseeing the coordination of the lawsuits, wrote in a scheduling order last week. “These reports proved to be premature.”

Cahill noted that he hadn’t received any notice for any party “of any settlement let alone one of a global nature.” However, he also hadn’t been informed of any impasse in the negotiation process, he wrote.

Jake Lowenthal, a Maui attorney selected as one of five liaisons for the coordination of the cases, said Wednesday, “as of now, there’s no settlement.”

Hawaiian Electric Company spokesperson Darren Pai said in an email that the mediation process is confidential and the company would not comment. Maui County didn’t respond to an email seeking comment.

Jim Bickerton, a lawyer who filed the first lawsuit against Bishop Estate — one of the landowners sued over allegations of failing to maintain vegetation that fueled the fire — wouldn’t comment on the status of current negotiations. But he said, “Any settlement process would include a method for those who have not yet hired lawyers or made claims to have their claim be considered.”

Green said he was traveling out of state for several weeks but ended up working on the settlement while he was away because bringing $4 billion to Lahaina would accelerate the community’s recovery. Settlements of wildfire lawsuits elsewhere have often taken years.

“As I watched other regions that have gone through these disasters, I learned that they didn’t reach settlement for many years, and that left people in a tangled web of despair because they couldn’t really recover,” Green said.

Victims would get insurance, but it was never enough, the governor said.

“I acknowledge that the $3 billion that’s coming from insurance is very helpful,” Green said. “But the additional $4 billion of settlement will hopefully make it possible for people to rebuild however they feel they need to.”

In 2019, Pacific Gas and Electric settled all major claims related to deadly Northern California wildfires of 2017-2018 for $13.5 billion. The deal resolved claims over the 2018 Camp Fire, which killed 85 people and all but incinerated the town of Paradise, the 2015 Butte Fire and Oakland’s 2016 Ghost Ship fire.

Separately, three years later, former PG&E executives and directors agreed to pay $117 million to settle a lawsuit over 2017-2018 wildfires.

PG&E is the nation’s largest utility, with an estimated 16 million customers in central and Northern California.

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Associated Press journalist Jennifer Sinco Kelleher contributed to this report.

About 10 years ago, I personally discovered that Hawaii’s Kohala Coast on the Big Island has to be one of America’s most-underrated golf destinations. The island seems to be the lesser-visited sibling to Maui, Oahu and Kauai for vacationers, yet there are so many really good golf courses here within a 30-minute drive from one another that I couldn’t wait to return. And last week, I finally did. Yes, the Big Island is a romantic getaway, but I can also picture it as an excellent golf buddy destination particularly for West Coasters who can jaunt over on a non-stop flight in five hours.

As part of a longer trip this time, I was able to experience two nights at the Mauna Kea Resort – located on the northwest part of the island – and play a round at its 6,895-yard, Arnold Palmer/Ed Seay-designed Hapuna Golf Course. It’s a 35-minute drive from the Kona Airport up the coast along the black lava rock-lined main strip called Highway 19.

We checked into the Mauna Kea Residences at the resort, and were incredibly happy to find the unit located down on the lowest floor, facing the Pacific (every room at the resort has a front row ocean view), and armed with every amenity I could hope for. The Residences are part of the hotel, so guests still have access to all of the hotel’s facilities. The family was with me, so we had a spacious three-bedroom unit. Our private patio even had its own hot tub, along with a full kitchen, upscale appliances, large-screen TV’s, laundry closet, bidets, and even our own private gate to the beach. There was also air conditioning, but we often found ourselves opening up the full-wall doors to get a great, cool breeze. Everyone was happy. Yes we took advantage of the beach and two of the restaurants in the hotel – Naupuka Beach Grill and Ikena Landing. We also took the shuttle to the sister Mauna Kea Hotel one night for dinner there. Part of that hotel is currently under renovation, and unfortunately so is its world-renowned Mauna Kea Golf Course — a Robert Trent Jones, Sr. design. But one of the hotel employees tells me that when they reopen the course in February, it will have eliminated several of the 99 bunkers. I understand that they’re making the layout more-resort-friendly and also completely replacing the turf. Can’t wait to come back and play it someday. Loved it when I played there on my previous trip.

Regardless, I was able to play the Hapuna Golf Course this time with my daughter. The course actually borders Mauna Kea Golf Course. But while Mauna Kea is situated close to the water, Hapuna plays up into the wild brush and hillside. Its entire front nine climbs up the hill – expect some amazingly refreshing breezes – and the back nine brings you back down. Yet every hole offers an ocean view and a photo opportunity. It’s very serene, with plenty of wildlife to keep you mesmerized – my daughter loved all of the goats we encountered during our round. The second cut of rough is essentially made up of tall straw that’s difficult to get out of. I blasted a shot from it once during the round that essentially went all of about 30 yards. Thankfully, the fairways are generously sized, making it easy to keep your ball in play. It’s a player-friendly, hilly course with few flat lies. But many holes are sculpted to bring your shots back toward the center. The greens are mostly flat and in amazing condition. And while many of the fairways were blemish-free, several candidly needed some TLC. There are many really good holes here, regardless. We seemingly had the course to ourselves for 10 holes – the only other human we saw was the very friendly beverage cart woman – before running into a slow group. We played through before landing behind another twosome for the last three holes. So I just played an extra ball for those holes. Despite all that, we still finished our round in less than 2.5 hours – giving us extra beach time for the afternoon. I highly recommend playing here to anyone visiting the island.

Nightlife on the Big Island has a unique meaning. There aren’t a lot of bars, although we hung out at the open-air one on the terrace one night listening to a great guitar player/vocalist. The sunset watching is fantastic, and I’m told you can also go stargazing up at 11,000 feet on Mauna Kea – a mountain that does get snow (yes, even in Hawaii) and boasts one of the world’s largest telescopes. Also popular is the manta ray night snorkeling, in which the water is lit up for what I hear is a surreal experience. Our only side excursion besides desperately trying to find a local pizza place, was touring a local Kona coffee facility up in the mountains, which was really enlightening.

If you’re planning to visit the island — and especially if you want to play golf on your trip — Mauna Kea Resort is a nice option.