“It was so hard to sit there and just watch my town burn to ashes and not be able to do anything. I was helpless.”
A flyover of historic Lahaina showed entire neighborhoods that had been a vibrant vision of color and island life reduced to gray ash. Block after block was nothing but rubble and blackened foundations, including along famous Front Street, where tourists shopped and dined just days ago. Boats in the harbor were scorched, and smoke hovered over the town, which dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side.
Winn said the destruction was so widespread, “I couldn’t even tell where I was because all the landmarks were gone.” Search and rescue teams still won't be able to reach certain areas until the fire lines are secure and access is safe, Weintraub added. Vasquez and his brother Eduardo escaped via roads that were clogged with vehicles full of people. The smoke was so toxic that he vomited. He said he's not sure his roommates and neighbors made it to safety.
Chelsey Vierra's grandmother, Louise Abihai, was living at Hale Mahaolu, and the family doesn't know if she got out. “She doesn’t have a phone. She’s 97 years old,” Vierra said Thursday. “She can walk. She is strong.” In coastal Kihei, southeast of Lahaina, wide swaths of ground glowed red with embers Wednesday night as flames continued to chew through trees and buildings. Gusty winds blew sparks over a black and orange patchwork of charred earth and still-crackling hot spots.
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