Lahaina Locals Work to Recover from Catastrophic Wildfires

MAUI COUNTY, Hawaii - Lahaina town on Maui is still struggling to recover from the devastating wildfires that wreaked havoc across the island’s west side.

As of Friday, more than a hundred people have been pronounced dead, with hundreds more deemed missing by the FBI. VNN spoke with a Lahaina local whose family luckily survived the disaster–although her family home did not.

“They didn’t realize what the evacuation was for,” said Ashley Probst, who was raised in Lahaina. “My dad was under the impression that they were being evacuated due to dangers of smoke inhalation, not thinking that the fire was threatening our home or the whole neighborhood.”

Probst’s family was able to grab a few belongings from the home they’ve lived in for decades, with the largest item being a crate for their dog. They evacuated to Probst’s apartment in Wailuku.

“We didn’t know if our house was gone,” Probst explained. “We were really hoping–but we finally saw the aerial footage the day after that we found out our house had been turned to rubble, essentially.”

Probst says she and her family have been doing their best to stay positive, but losing their long-term home so suddenly has been nearly impossible to process.

“At least around each other, we’ve been putting on a brave face and we also acknowledge the gratitude that we’re all alive, because that’s not the case for a lot of people,” she added. “But it was just the realization that a piece of my childhood is gone.”

Although emergency personnel chose not to sound Maui’s tsunami sirens due to the fear of residents evacuated into the mountains, where the fires were rampant, Probst says she knows the people of Lahaina would have made smart decisions about escaping the area. She also says she doesn’t understand why text messages alerts were sent when most Lahaina residents had little to no cell phone reception that day.

“It does feel like we’ve been overlooked in a way, mainly because it’s been the grassroot efforts of residents taking care of people on the west side,” said Probst. “That’s the main reason that I feel our people have been able to make it through this situation.” 

When asked how she feels about tourists continuing to visit Lahaina, Probst’s answer is clear.

“No–West Maui is closed,” she said. “Lahaina is decimated, there’s nothing left to see there, and I've already seen videos of tourists taking photos with the ‘Lahaina Town’ sign, which feels so disgusting to me. The other residents of West Maui are in survival mode, and we don’t know how long they’re going to be in survival mode.”

For now, Probst says it makes sense for tourists to visit other parts of Maui in order to keep the local economy boosted, but Lahaina needs time to heal. She also says she knows her hometown will come back from this, as she’s seen West Maui locals coming together like never before to help distribute donations, food, and medication–even doing so by boat when roads have been blocked. 

“When the residents in Maui put their minds to something, they’re unstoppable,” noted Probst. “And I think that that’s going to apply to this rebuilding process that we’re all very determined to make happen.”