Maui burned to Ashes

A horrible tragedy unfolded in the amazing little community of Lahaina Hawaii. Mid afternoon on Wednesday August 9th, I caught word of Maui having fires.  I was immediately drawn to the television for videos and photos and the latest news. I couldn't stop watching and felt so sad for the Maui people! Lahaina, Maui is one place I have had the fortune to visit on three different occasions. It is a tourist area full of beauty, history, locals, businesses, and so much more. I remember it well and in great detail. What had just happened in Lahaina was beyond anyone's imagination!! Here is what I learned...   8/9/23  LAHAINA (HawaiiNewsNow) - As flames from a raging brush fire tore through a historic business district on Maui Tuesday, residents and others on social media described the “devastating” crisis unfolding. A pilot from Air Maui Helicopters flew over Lahaina Wednesday morning and recalled seeing hundreds of homes burnt down. Lahaina resident Tiare Lawrence compared the scene to an apocalypse, with people running for their lives.“Everyone I know in Lahaina, their homes have been burned down. "Everything that we’d ever known was gone. Our church, our schools, every single memory we had of 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. Strong winds fueled the massive wildfires Dept. of Defense official details Hawaii National Guard’s efforts on Maui “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 in the water,” said Lovitt. 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.   8/13/23 5 days after the fires, the death total has climbed to 99. I watched videos, see photos daily, and hear the latest updates. Survivor stories are coming out and many are horrible and some miraculous. So many lost lives, there were no warnings and many had no idea what was happening. Many were trapped, some thought their home or their car was a safe place. So many perished in the horrible catastrophe. There will be more numbers of deceased in the days to come, along with survivor stories and answers. There are many questions, why were there were no warnings, why were the power lines still live? Why did the sirens not go off to alert people? Why were there no people helping to evacuate, alert people, help, and rescue? So many questions linger. Today I learned the fires swept through burning at a rate of over a mile per minute!    The before and after photos are completely devastating. We have fond memories of shopping downtown at the many shops along the ocean and dining at a nice restaurant. There was the museum we visited and the famous Lahaina Banyan trees. SO many lives were lost in horrible ways in this tragedy. So very sad. The smoke engulfed the island and the winds created a trap. The fires billowed smoke and flames took over destroying homes, business, and people. Police and rescue were blocking roads and rerouting people only to lead them into being trapped.  Many ran to the ocean and some survived bobbing in the water. Many took to the vehicles only to be trapped.  The charred photo is along one of the main streets that parallels the ocean. So heartbreaking. There was a lot going on and there will be more stories unfolding. It just doesn't make sense. There are a lot of conspiracy theories started and most of them are more realistic than just calling it an accidental fire.  

. The photos below show the before and after area of Lahaina and the front street area. The large circular clump of trees near the water is where the famous Banyan trees are located. The red roof near it is the museum. The row of boats were mostly tour boats. The long green rooftops are the school buildings of the children's classrooms. This is a photo of one small area, yet so much history was lost. 

Days and after a week after the Maui fires, when asked for his thoughts, Biden simply answered, "No Comment." What on earth does that mean? It either means he doesn't really care, he doesn't have a clue, or he doesn't know what to say because his staff hasn't trained and thoroughly fed him all that they want him to say.  After almost 2 weeks, Biden finally made a trip to Maui to see the devastation and speak to the people of Maui. And what does he say," I can relate because I ALMOST had a fire from a nearby lightning strike and ALMOST lost my wife, my 67 Chevy, and my cat." Honestly, I heard it for myself on national news. It was the most embarrassing, humiliating speech I have ever heard from someone during such a dire situation and this is our president!??  These poor Maui residents lost everything!! They lost people, homes, businesses, literally everything they own. This is a photo of our family by the Banyan tree in 2018