More than a week into the first phase of West Maui’s reopening, travel is now unrestricted, and hotels and short-term rental units from Kapalua to Kahana are cleared to let their properties out to tourists.

Conflicts have arisen, however, raising questions about West Maui’s readiness for further phases of reopening. Disturbingly, some households displaced by the Aug. 8 wildfires have reported that they’ve been told to vacate their postfire units without having access to other, suitable shelter.

The process of re-envisioning and rebuilding Lahaina requires longterm planning — but in the meantime, thousands of housing units are required to meet interim needs. A cohesive strategy to fulfill this urgent need is now essential.

Charles Nahale escaped a family compound on Front Street in Lahaina that was destroyed by raging fire. Five days later, the American Red Cross connected him with shelter in the Kahana Sands condominiums. Nahale says he was told the Red Cross had contracted to shelter Lahaina evacuees at Kahana Sands through Oct. 31 — but on Sept. 11, Kahana Sands’ Soleil Management sent a letter ordering him out by Sept. 30. He checked with other properties managed by Soleil, but found no available units.

On Sept. 29, Nahale was told he didn’t have to move out Sept. 30, after all. But the Red Cross has begun inquiring when he might find other housing — and Nahale doesn’t know.

At another Kahana timeshare, Kahana Falls, residents were also asked to leave, but the property manager told the Star-Advertiser that the Red Cross met with those tenants and helped them with finding replacement housing. That’s the type of aloha, and coordinated action, that needs to occur in each housing instance going forward, so that no fire survivors are left homeless.

It’s unclear why Nahale has not received such direct assistance from the Red Cross, but what is clear is that he does not know where he might go next, if forced to leave Kahana Sands.

At the Honua Kai Resort, where the Red Cross has placed more than 1,400 evacuees, owners were informed by their board of directors’ president that allowing tenants to stay longer than 60 days would violate condo rules. After an outcry, the president altered that stance last week, telling the Star-Advertiser that longer stays are OK as long as rentals end by Dec. 1.

The turbulence at these West Maui locations is not healthy for the fire victims, and the pressure of eviction is counterproductive to recovery. It’s a fact that Gov. Josh Green has pledged to open West Maui again to tourists, with an eye on the fast-approaching holiday season, so it behooves all to coordinate smoother housing transitions for displaced locals. Meanwhile, of individual units offered to the state’s Hawaii Fire Relief Housing Program, it’s discouraging that fewer than 1,000 have been “verified,” and less than 800 are on the island of Maui.

With contracts expiring to house fire refugees in resorts, the state and Maui County must take vigorous action to identify new housing units, so that the fire-displaced can ease out of tourist zones, where the focus is on vacationing, not residential life.

Green’s current emergency proclamation concerning Maui’s fire recovery prohibits evictions — but only through Nov. 6. With that less than three weeks away, the governor must extend this moratorium on evictions to give the fire-displaced adequate time to relocate.

Green, along with state and county officials tasked with aid and recovery for Lahaina’s people, must set up more open and robust lines of communication and inventory between the displaced, Maui property owners and upcoming housing projects. That will enable a clearer path to be mapped — to provide fire survivors with an ongoing sense of security over safe haven, while setting a more methodical game plan for future stages of reopening West Maui.