Truly apocalyptic: Lahaina residents get sense of damage as death toll reaches 36 | News, Spor

Burned out cars and the remains of buildings are seen in Lahaina town in this image captured Wednesday by U.S. Civil Air Patrol. US Civil Air Patrol / County of Maui photo

At least 36 people were confirmed dead and more than 271 buildings burned in Lahaina town as officials began to take stock of the damage wrought by a fast-moving fire in West Maui.

“This is devastating to our community,” Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said during a news conference with county and state officials on Wednesday morning, when the first six fatalities were announced. “This is a time for us to come together. This is a time for us to care for each other.”

The county said late Wednesday night that no other details on the death were available. A federal team arrived on island Wednesday to assist with search and rescue efforts.

Flyovers of Lahaina town by U.S. Civil Air Patrol and Maui Fire Department on Wednesday showed more than 271 structures were impacted, according to the county. There was widespread damage to the town, the harbor and surrounding area.

From where he stood on the edge of Lahaina town, the only thing Eddy Garcia could still see standing was the Lahaina Shores Hotel. The fire, it seemed, had taken just about everything else, from the 505 Front Street area to the Wharf Cinema Center shops to the Pioneer Inn.

Sabrina and Andre Fehlmann sit in the driveway of Kulalani Drive neighbors Gayle and Ross Hart Wednesday morning as both couples process losing their homes to a fire that swept through their neighborhood Tuesday. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

“It’s truly apocalyptic, and every landmark I’ve ever seen as a child … the amount of destruction everywhere, the only way to describe it is heartbreaking and in shock,” said Garcia, who sustained damage to his Launiupoko farm but saw his Olowalu home spared. “We’ve lost, but we’ve lost nothing compared to what the whole has lost.”

Garcia, who runs Living Earth Systems, spent Wednesday morning surveying the devastation in Lahaina town from Puamana to the harbor.

“I would say 90 percent at least of every single thing there on both sides of the road was burned to the ground, to the foundation,” Garcia said. “There are thousands of houses, entire neighborhoods.”

Crews continued fighting three fires across Maui on Wednesday, including in Lahaina, Kula and Pulehu.

The Lahaina fire began shortly after 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and was fully contained early on before it flared up again and spread throughout the town. The Kula fire, which began around 12 a.m. Tuesday near Olinda Road, was still going Wednesday, with smoke from the fire still visible miles away. The Pulehu fire, which also started Tuesday, was still ongoing. Containment numbers were not available Wednesday afternoon, and the county said the status of the fires had not changed.

A young man escorts a dazed man away from fast-approaching flames at Malu ‘Ulu o Lele Park in Lahaina Tuesday afternoon. The burning town of Lahaina turns the sky orange in the background. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Maui Memorial Medical Center treated some patients for burn, smoke inhalation and other fire-related injuries, Maui Health said Wednesday. Since Tuesday night, the hospital had admitted five patients, including two for critical injuries. Since Tuesday night, seven patients have been transferred to Oahu for specialty services, including some fire-related injuries. All other patients have been treated and released.

Kula Hospital and Lanai Community Hospital also remain fully operational and are adequately staffed.

Those looking for loved ones at Maui Memorial should call the main hospital line at (808) 244-9056 and provide a first and last name to verify whether their family member is being treated at MMMC. To contact Kula Hospital residents and patients, call (808) 878-1221. If prompted, leave a voice message with your name and contact information and a hospital representative will return your call.

‘EMBERS WERE JUST FLYING’

Among the structures and grounds burned was the Lahaina Jodo Mission, whose grounds are home to a giant Buddha statue and pagoda.

A crew from Imua Landscaping cuts a large eucalyptus tree blocking a portion of Haleakala Highway in Kula Wednesday afternoon. The tree was one of many brought down by high winds. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Yayoi Hara, daughter of resident minister the Rev. Gensho Hara, said from what they could see from video and photos, the temple is gone and so is a pagoda, but they are unsure of the Buddha statue.

“I’m so shocked. I cannot think clearly,” the Rev. Gensho Hara said via phone from Central Maui Wednesday afternoon. He has served as the resident minister there since 1963.

Rev. Hara, who evacuated to the Lahaina Civic Center then to Maui Preparatory Academy as fire threatened the civic center, eventually made his way to Central Maui Wednesday afternoon. He said he will discuss with his members on what will be done next for the mission.

Yayoi Hara said the family, along with neighbors and some temple members, were at the temple as the fire inched closer Tuesday afternoon.

“We were out trying to water things down at one point,” she said.

“And then the wind started picking up and everything happened so fast. There were embers flying to the sky,” she said.

She saw an ember hit a coconut tree on the church property, then the “coconut tree was on fire.”

“The embers were just flying all over the town. It was like little fires starting,” Yayoi Hara said.

She and others put out some little fires. They thought of staying but instead decided to leave for everyone’s safety.

“Even when we were evacuating, there were trees on fire and homes on fire,” she said. “Everything was so surreal. We were very much present in the moment … (but) it was like a dream.”

Yayoi Hara, 48, who grew up at the mission, said the impacts span beyond the temple to the entire town.

“It’s going to be hard to come back from this,” she said through some tears. “I hope we don’t lose more families who end up moving away because of this.”

Kelly Bryce, a charter boat captain of the Marjorie Ann out of Maalaea, was asked by U.S. Coast Guard to stand by to help Wednesday night with an estimated 50 people in the water around the harbor. Bryce said Lahaina town “was completely engulfed in flames.”

He said the majority of people were able to get out of the water and were helped from a beach area. The U.S. Coast Guard said that about a dozen were pulled by a rescue boat. Bryce said he stood by to see if any assistance was needed to shuttle passengers, but in the end he didn’t have to.

Bryce stressed that focus should be put on helping residents and getting resources to the public.

He said one of his co-workers, a fellow boat captain who was displaced from the Kula fire, had hoped to save his boat in Lahaina if it was still there when they went to help the Coast Guard. But Bryce said that when they went out to Lahaina around 10 p.m. “everything was gone” at the harbor.

Maui County Council Member Tamara Paltin, whose residency seat is in West Maui, said she was “feeling really helpless” Wednesday morning, noting the areas she had heard were gone, including Waiola Church, among others.

“We are going to need a lot of help and for people to work together and look out for one another,” she said via text message, as cellphone service was spotty for West Maui residents.

Upcountry residents were not spared from shock and heartbreak either.

Sharil Klipper lost her rental home near Kula Lodge to the fire.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said as she sat in her car Wednesday morning at the Hannibal Tavares Community Center in Pukalani, a shelter staffed by the American Red Cross.

“It was such a sanctuary up there,” she said. “It’s so freaking sad.”

Klipper was evacuated from her Kulalani Street home around noon Tuesday and didn’t take much with her. She got out and spent the night at the shelter.

“I was restless and worried but it came to pass,” she said.

She had “barely” gotten to sleep when the news hit as neighbors who arrived at the shelter Wednesday showed her photos of her destroyed home. Klipper cried, wondering what she would do next, noting how hard it is to find housing on Maui.

On Wednesday morning, the shelter had around 50 people. Some had slept on air mattresses, while others dozed in their cars. Evacuees talked story and drank coffee. A boy and his father transferred toys from their car into the shelter. There were already donations of clothes and some baby supplies on site. One lady cried as she FaceTimed another person on her cellphone.

Others in the Upcountry area were relieved to return to their homes and businesses.

“When I came up this morning I could not believe the place was still standing,” James Worth of the Kula Sandalwoods Inn & Cafe said.

“When we left the flames right behind the building were 40 feet high.”

Worth and others on Tuesday used a pressure washer and hose to wet the ridge behind the lodge building and rental cabins.

The inn is about 25 minutes away from the Haleakala National Park entrance.

On Wednesday morning, areas such as Pulehu Road and places near the Kula Shofukuji Mission were still littered with branches, trees and downed utility lines. Earlier winds had been so gusty that pine trees were standing crooked.

Some businesses remained closed Wednesday, such as the Kula Hardware & Nursery and nearby La Provence, both on Lower Kula Road.

* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com. Managing Editor Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com. Staff Writer Matthew Thayer contributed to this report.

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