‘Everything was gone’: Residents describe brush fire that tore through Lahaina
LAHAINA (HawaiiNewsNow) – As flames from a huge brush fire tore through a historic business district on Maui Tuesday, residents and others on social media described the “heartbreaking” crisis unfolding.
Lahaina resident Tiare Lawrence compared the scene to an apocalypse, with people running for their lives.
“It’s just so hard. I’m currently Upcountry and just knowing I can’t get a hold of any of my family members. I still don’t know where my little brother is. I don’t know where my stepdad is,” she said.
“Everyone I know in Lahaina, their homes have been burned down.”
Lawrence’s cousin Dustin Kaleiopu added they had seen smoke near their house around 3:30 p.m., and just a few hours later, the fires took everything.
“Our house was gone. Everything that we’d ever known was gone. Our church, our schools, every single memory we had on this household … everything was gone in the blink of an eye,” Kaleiopu said.
Front Street business owner Alan Dickar captured video Tuesday afternoon, watching business after business going up in flames.
“That was this afternoon, around probably 4:30 in bright sunshine, blue skies, but you couldn’t tell from that video.”
He said there were no fire trucks at the point.
Huge wildfire tears through Lahaina, destroying businesses and sending people fleeing into water
“I think the fire department was overwhelmed with other fires nearby,” he said. “And it’s amazing because this is the most important business street on Maui.”
Meanwhile, crews have been scrambling to rescue a number of people who fled into the ocean to escape the fast-moving flames.
About 10:50 p.m., the Coast Guard said it had rescued a dozen people from waters off Lahaina.
The full scope of the damage in Lahaina isn’t known, but videos on social media shows a wall of flames descending on Front Street in Lahaina and destroying a number of businesses. One terrifying video posted by fleeing residents shows uncontrolled flames on both sides of their vehicle.
People have described the scene as “chaotic” and “stressful.”
This story will be updated.
