Officials say every truck in the central valley of Maui was at the scene, with nearly 70 firefighters on hand to extinguish the blaze.
Hundreds looked on as the fire raced through the shopping center.
"Smoke started coming out of the pile. I sat there for a few minutes and looked up and flames started coming out of the pile and it just burst into flames," said Nicholas Mangilardi.
It apparently started in a Salvation Army thrift store and quickly spread to the neighboring Ah Fook's Super Market. TJ's Oriental Food Mart and Fast Food was also destroyed by the fire.
The considerable wind only made things more difficult for firefighters.
"It was enough to keep everything very hot, very warm," said Deputy Fire Chief Neal Bal. "We couldn't do any interior attacks. So we just had to try and save these buildings by keeping the exposures in check."
No one was injured in the fire.
It took firefighters about four hours to put out it out.
There was also some damage to nearby Kahului Library.
There are no official estimates yet, but Bal believes damage will run in the millions.
