INFERNO IN PARADISE
Deadly wildfires fueled by hurricane’s winds ravage Maui
The wildfires ripping through Maui left a swath of devastation for blocks in the historic town of Lahaina on Wednesday, videos and photos of the tourist destination show.
Historic buildings along Lahaina’s popular Front St. were charred and flattened skeletons, powerlines were draped across roadways and abandoned cars were blackened husks.
Richard Olsten, a helicopter pilot for a tour company, flew over the fire site on Wednesday and was shocked by a scene where it “looked like a bomb went off.”
“It’s horrifying. I’ve flown here 52 years and I’ve never seen anything come close to that. We had tears in our eyes, the other pilots on board and the mechanics and me,” he said, recalling even the boats in the harbor were burned.
“We never thought we’d experience anything like this in our whole life,” he continued.
Lahaina holds strong cultural significance. It was the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom under Kings Kamehameha II and III from 1820 to 1845, and served as a main port for the North Pacific whaling fleet, according to the National Park Service.
“We got out in the nick of time yesterday,” recalled Lahaina resident Ke’eaumoku Kapu. He was at the cultural center he runs in the historic section of town Tuesday, tying down lose objects in the wind, when his wife showed up at around 4 p.m. and said they needed to evacuate. “Right at that time, things got crazy. The wind started picking up,” he said.
Two blocks away they saw fire and billowing smoke. Kapu, his wife and a friend jumped into his pickup truck. “By the time we turned around, our building was on fire. It was that quick.”
Kahului Airport, the main airport in Maui, was sheltering 2,000 travelers whose flights were canceled or who recently arrived on the island, the county said on Facebook. The tourists were among those expected to be brought to the convention center.
Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said search and rescue efforts are continuing when conditions are safe to enter active fire areas. He warned that the number of confirmed fatalities could increase. So far, six people have been confirmed dead in the fires.
“This is a deeply somber day,” Bissen said. “The gravity of losing any life is tragic. As we grieve with their families, we offer prayers for comfort in this inconsolable time.”
The wildfires that burned through the town of Lahaina in the middle of the night caused some residents to flee into the ocean to escape the smoke and flames. The Coast Guard reported rescuing 14 people from the ocean off Lahaina, including two young children who were reunited with family members.
The fires were worsened by high winds from Hurricane Dora, which was passing south of the island chain.
“We never anticipated in this state that a hurricane, which did not make impact on our islands, would cause this type of wildfires,” said Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke, who was acting governor while Gov. Josh Green was cutting short his personal travel to return to Hawaii. “Wildfires that wiped out communities.”