Lindsey Rockwood, who grew up in Prospector, was visiting a friend in the historic neighborhood of Lahaina in Maui this past week.
“I was actually looking into finding jobs and moving back here, and I was trying to plan my future,” Rockwood said.
On the third night of her visit, high winds from nearby Hurricane Dora and severe drought helped create a small brush fire in the hills above where she was staying. Rockwood and her friend decided to run some errands in the hope that when they finished the fire would be taken care of.
“We were leaving thinking that we were going to come back in a few hours, so I didn’t bring anything with me,” she said. “We both had the thought in our head - maybe we should grab some stuff.”
She said there was no emergency warning before they left. The pair realized the situation was escalating when roads began to close.
“It was impossible for helicopters or anything to come over there to get the fires out," she said. "The fire department was already overwhelmed because there was so much going on. And because the wind was so bad the embers were jumping house to house to house. So there was no way that they could save anything.”
Rockwood said she’s only begun to process the devastation, including the loss of her friend’s home. She added that national media coverage has underscored the toll of the damage, and the death count.
“There’s burnt bodies in the road," she said. "They said that there was like plastered bodies to the wall because of explosions that happened inside.”
She was told about a man named Frank who wasn’t able to get out of Lahaina. Someone in the military found his remains.
“He finds Frank covering his dog, just like huddled over his dog, and all burnt. Both of them died," she said.
As of Sunday morning, the official death toll from the fire reached 93. That makes it the deadliest fire in the U.S. in over a century.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said Friday rescuers have not been able to search for bodies inside buildings yet.
Rockwood said the amount of loss in Lahaina is beyond comprehension for Hawaiians.
“Lahaina was actually at one point the capital of Hawaii, and basically that’s where the king had lived,” she said. “Some see it as the capital of Hawaii, and there’s a lot of people that have lived here generationally that are still here.”
She said many locals are worried about the rebuilding process.
“It’s just a very historic town, and I think one of the biggest devastations that I’m trying to come to terms with is the fact that these old historic buildings that have been around for a very, very, very long time are just never ever going to be there again," she said. "They’re gorgeous old-style buildings - I mean everything was wood… everything was just easily able to go up in flames.”
Rockwood said the destruction has forced her to think about her hometown.
“I know we’ve had fires in Park City, but I could not even imagine having this kind of devastation over there," she said. " I’m born and raised in Park City and if that were to happen to my hometown, honestly I think it would be so psychologically affecting that I wouldn’t know what to do in the present moment… It’s going to take years for Lahaina to get anywhere, and we’re all concerned as to what the future of Lahaina is going to be.”
Rockwood and her friend are safe and found a place to stay in nearby Wailuku. The two along with other Lahaina residents were allowed to return to the neighborhood Friday afternoon.
If people would like to donate to recovery efforts, Rockwood recommended Maui United Way and the Hawaii Community Foundation.
