When thinking of all the things to be thankful for in our Island home, nothing is more important than our Hawaiian Ohana. In this isolated chain in the Pacific, when it comes to hardship and disaster, we can at least rely on each other and be thankful for our neighbors who step in to help. Nowhere has this been more evident recently than in the Lahaina disaster.
The town of Lahaina has been significant to Hawaiian culture for centuries, even once being a royal capital like our own Kona. It boasted the first lighthouse constructed in the Hawaiian Islands, the largest banyan tree in the US, and for decades has been a favorite spot for locals and tourists alike.
Then, on August 8th, 65-mile-per-hour winds, mixed with dry summer conditions, nearly burned it off the map. More than 2,200 structures were destroyed, over a hundred people died and thousands more were left without a home or a job. These devastating facts have been recounted again and again.
Yet, there are many stories that have not yet been told. As soon as news of the disaster spread, residents of the other islands rallied to send help, each playing a key role in the gathering and distribution of essential items.
Many of these stories come from our own on the Big Island, and we are glad to share just some of them.
On the first day of the blaze, with fires still burning, a team of pilots from Paradise Helicopters rallied to fly over to Maui. Many residents had escaped from the flames but were stuck in Kapalua Airport, without internet access or phone signal, with the few belongings they had been able to collect. For hours, the pilots took turns flying, evacuating the civilians to the nearby islands. “I remember a woman we helped get to the Big Island. When we landed in Kona she asked if I knew what had happened. That’s when it hit me that these people were running away with less knowledge than us, who had seen the footage of the fire. I briefly told her that Lahaina had burnt,” says U’ilani Kailiwai, Director of Business Development at Paradise Helicopters. The woman was in shock, unable to believe the magnitude of what she had escaped.
Dana Asis, a private pilot who had been busy helping people affected by the fires in Kohala on the Big Island, headed to the commuter terminal in Kona to see how she could help. There, Mauna Loa Helicopters had already started collecting donations but still needed to bring them to West Maui. Lahaina’s ground access was cut off at the moment, the only way to reach the town was through air. Quickly, Dana and the other 17 private pilots organized 5 aircraft to get permission to land at Kapalua Airport. In an unprecedented effort, companies such as Tropic Bird, Paradise Helicopters, and Mokulele Airlines pooled their resources to bring food, water, and supplies into Maui, including insulin sent from Hilo for people with diabetes.
While pilots were doing their best in the air, normal Kona residents also wanted to contribute. U’ilani shares, “We had a couple of women that drove by saying their kids were at school, and they wanted to help. We told them they could sort the clothes donations we had received. When I shared what they were doing with Stacey Dorn, co-founder of Paradise Helicopters, she broke down and said that’s why her husband and she had started their company, to give back to the Hawaiian community.”
Two days after the initial fire, people from Kauai, Oahu, and the Big Island traveled to Kahului. They had been collecting donations and were able to hand out ice, fuel, and food directly to the families in Lahaina. “Though there were regular people and businessmen, nobody was wearing an organization hat or a shirt representing anything. It was just people helping people. It was family coming together. It didn’t matter where you were coming from, you were just coming to support others,” says Tiger Hill, a long-term Kona resident.
Despite the pain and suffering the Maui ohana experienced, residents continued putting others before themselves. Not waiting for aid to come from the outside, they did not hesitate to share the resources they had. Some went around the island to bring generators, others showed up with forklifts to move debris, and even drove trucks full of fruit from their farms to give away. People, all of whom had gone through trauma, demonstrated love to one another. Chaos hit, but Hawai’i responded by coming together.
Max Yarawamai, owner of RMG Pacific, a local landscaping company, traveled to Maui to help his friend Archie Kalepa, a Lahaina resident, who was operating an impromptu hub. He gathered generators and brought them down to Lahaina, unaware that his action would allow others to be able to cook and light the streets. As a result, people came together in the evenings to eat and talk. “Everybody threw out their differences and looked at the bigger picture. Sometimes we don’t really see that til something drastic like this happens. One guy came with fish he had just caught. Expensive fish that you’d eat in a restaurant. He cleaned it to share with everybody. You have no electricity, so you have to share it because you can’t store it. Everyone is on the same level,” Max says.
Some Lahaina firefighters, who had lost everything in the blaze, continued searching for survivors and aiding people during the days after the disaster. The supply distribution hub in Napili Plaza was run mostly by current and retired firefighters. “One of the most amazing things about people in Maui was the immediate response to help their neighbors. The true spirit of aloha was alive and demonstrated,” says Julie McLaughlin, a volunteer at YWAM Ships, a nonprofit mission based in Kona that sends medical relief to isolated islands in the Pacific.
During the relief response, YWAM Ships partnered with private yacht owners to get a flotilla and send supplies to Maui. Due to strong winds, a vessel had to turn around; but the crew’s desire to help continued. Over 100 members of the organization paid for their own plane tickets to go to Maui and carry the supplies as checked baggage.
Throughout the Hawaiian islands, churches also did their part. They gathered all kinds of essentials – diapers, toiletries and feminine products – to provide long-term relief. Southwest, one of the airlines transporting these donations, happened to have their luggage belt break. Many boxes were going to be left behind, but the airline’s luggage handlers, knowing the purpose of the supplies, decided to load every single one by hand. All the donations made it to Maui, helping many victims get critical items.
These are just a few of the many stories of compassionate response exemplified by our Big Island community. Thank you Big Island for standing with your Maui Ohana. Thank you for responding quickly and giving what you could.
As with all crises, there comes a moment when the momentum and attention decrease, but it is essential that the commitment toward our community, our Ohana, should not cease. As the first response – getting the donations and supplies to Maui – is accomplished, efforts must now move toward the recovery stage. How can the people affected by the fires see their lives restored?
Lahaina’s day-to-day needs change rapidly, but an ongoing challenge is access to housing and clean water. Temporary shelters and tiny homes have been set up, but while Lahaina is still yet to begin its rebuilding process, the residents require a temporary place to live. Families ought to be together, singles should have their privacy, and everyone deserves a place to cook their meals and have drinkable water.
It will take years to rebuild, and some things that were lost can never be recovered. The best thing we can do is stand with them and not forget. Let’s remember that those in Lahaina, Kula, and Kohala need us. Find a family that has been impacted and stand with them. Give what you can, when you can. Serve and love one another.
Everything that is put through fire changes. Hawai’i will never be the same after the Maui fires. If there is one thing this tragedy has revealed, when one island is in need, all the islands come together. We are one big ohana, helping each other to stand again.
Don’t ever stop.
“I was surprised by people’s eagerness to volunteer their own time. It was a way a regular person could contribute and give something,” says Julie McLaughlin,