Maui brushfire evacuation triggers trauma for Lahaina survivors

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / [email protected]

Lisa Pua‘a hugged her niece, Lei Casco, on Saturday after an evacuation order for a brush fire above the Kaanapali Golf Estates sent family members to Napili Park.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / [email protected]

A resident wept Saturday as Maui firefighters battled a wildfire above her home in Lanikeha. She said that a worker from the Kaanapali Golf Estates went door to door in a golf cart alerting residents to evacuate.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / [email protected]

Selah Rabe, 15, sat in the back seat of a car as her family was evacuated. The family of four lost their home to the Lahaina fire and are currently staying in a condo rental in Honokowai.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / [email protected]

Maui Fire Department responded to Saturday’s fire on the slopes near the Lanikeha gated community.

KAANAPALI >> A 7-acre brush fire Saturday got the immediate attention of hundreds of traumatized survivors of the Lahaina wildfire who did not hesitate to evacuate their temporary lodgings in Kaanapali resorts and hotels as Civil Defense sirens blared, police officers drove through communities telling people to leave and Gov. Josh Green went on social media saying a mandatory evacuation was underway.

At 2:55 p.m., as the fire continued uncontained, Maui radio stations also blared the monthly Civil Defense alert with no explanation.

It was the kind of multipronged warning system that evacuees said Saturday they never heard on Aug. 8 — now known as 808 or 8/8 — when the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history in over a century roared through Lahaina, killing 115 people with more than 300 remaining unaccounted for.

The warnings sent Lei Casco, 34, into flight mode as she packed her car while her three children cried, reliving their evacuation from Lahaina that cost Casco and her extended family five destroyed apartments and one single-family home.

Relief then mixed with anger among Casco and the 11 other adults and children in their family who met up at Napili Park, along with an estimated 100 or so other evacuees who fled the Kaanapali brush fire on Saturday.

When the Civil Defense sirens were followed by texts that read, “Brush fire,” Casco said, “That got our attention.”

Saturday’s warnings, alerts and evacuation orders, Casco said, then triggered “flashbacks and PTSD” reactions to Aug. 8.

“My three boys were crying,” she said. As they raced to safety, Casco tried to reassure her sons by saying, “It’s going to be OK.”

Once out of danger, Casco’s initial stress turned to anger at Napili Park.

Casco and others said the Civil Defense sirens that went off around 1:30 p.m. sent them to their hotel windows to see smoke in the sky, which they would have appreciated Aug. 8.

“They put on the sirens and alerts to cellphone, which they didn’t do when Lahaina burned,” Casco said. “But all of a sudden, they do it now.”

Saturday’s response to the Kaanapali brush fire represented the first public test for Darryl Oliveira, who was named interim director of the Maui Emergency Management Agency on Friday.

His predecessor, Herman Andaya, resigned Aug. 17 “effective immediately,” a day after appearing in public for the first time and defending his decision not to activate Civil Defense sirens on Aug. 8.

Oliveira previously served as chief of the Hawaii Fire Department and came out of retirement to become head of Hawaii island’s civil defense agency, winning praise for his handling of 2014’s Tropical Storm Iselle and subsequent Kilauea lava eruption.

Lahaina evacuees who fled Kaanapali hotels and resorts Saturday were not in a mood to offer praise but, nevertheless, appreciated the multiple efforts that a brush fire was in progress and they should evacuate immediately.

“It’s all kine emotions right now,” Casco said.

At 1:44 p.m., Green issued an alert with a map and said that an evacuation order was in place from Anapuni Loop to West Mahi Puu Place in Kaanapali. Maui County then said that West Mahi Pua Loop and Kualapa Loop were closed to traffic and people should go to Napili Park to locate evacuees.

Green then sent another alert that said, “Evacuate your family and pets now, do not delay. Expect conditions that may make driving difficult and watch for public safety personnel operating in the area.”

A Maui County alert at 2:24 p.m. then read, “Firefighters are on scene and have stopped forward progress of the fire. No additional threats or evacuation order (sic) are in place. We will provide updates as information becomes available.”

Saturday night, Maui County officials said the fire broke out at 12:45 p.m. near Kaanapali at Kualapa Loop and Anapuni Loop mauka of the Kaanapali resort area.

Firefighters arrived on scene approximately 10 minutes later and “stopped forward progress” before it reached homes or communities. Maui’s Emergency Management Agency then activated four sirens around 1:10 p.m. from Wahikuli to Honokowai to notify the community that something was wrong.

The evacuation order was lifted at 5 p.m. when the fire was 90% contained, meaning firefighters had encircled 90% of its perimeter. There were no reports of injuries or damage.

Maui Electric said power was restored before 7 p.m.. to 700 customers affected by the Kaanapali power outage.

Eduardo Leon, 50, had his home spared in Honokowai on Aug. 8. But the experiences of Lahaina survivors remain front of mind.

“When they say (Saturday) it’s fire, everybody run,” he said. “Run! Everybody was scared.”

Half of his group of 20 who gathered in Napili Park were children, who were traumatized by their evacuation. One played with a family cat who escaped into the brush surrounding the park and remained missing more than an hour later.

A girl in another family opened the kennel door to her family’s cat, which also escaped.

Andy Rabe, 44, his wife, Jenny, 48, and their daughters — Selah, 15, and Anjenette, 21 — piled into the family’s 2011 Toyota Corolla and stayed inside the car, which Andy parked facing Honoapiilani Highway, or Route 30.

The daughters refused to exit, worried they might need to make another hasty retreat “because of what happened in Lahaina,” Selah said.

Andy sat in the driver’s seat, with the family’s worn Bible on the dashboard.

“We’re praying for everyone’s safety,” he said.

Sky Delaney, 54, and his wife, Annabehel, 52, lost their two-bedroom, two-bath townhouse in Lahaina on Aug. 8 and were visiting their daughter, Asha, 33, on Saturday at her place in Kaanapali.

Asha has taken in a friend who also fled Lahaina.

When the sirens and alerts went off Saturday, Asha’s friend also began having flashbacks to Aug. 8, Sky Delaney said.

“Cops were ordering evacuations and sirens were going off,” he said.

“She was not having it. She was freaking out.”

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Staff writer Mark Ladao contributed to this report.

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