A British family have described fleeing to the sea to survive “apocalyptic” wildfires that ravaged their Hawaiian holiday paradise, killing at least 55 people.
Many survivors said in interviews that they didn’t hear any sirens or receive a warning that gave them enough time to prepare, and only realied they were in danger when they saw flames or heard explosions nearby.
Andy and Sarah Whitehouse and their teenage daughters, from Derbyshire, followed crowds of panicking holidaymakers to the Pacific Ocean from their beachfront hotel.
Ms Wihtehouse, who had been celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary, spoke to The Times as she sheltered at a McDonalds with 1,000 or more still missing.
She said: “The only reason we’re still here is because the wind direction stayed away. I can’t describe it. We’ll never forget it.”
She added the unfolding catastrophe felt like they were on the sinking Titanic with explosions filling the air like a “war zone”.
Her husband described how the family were first greeted with what they thought was a huge dark rain cloud, only to realise it was thick, black smoke. “I’ll never forget; it was just solid; everything vanished,” he said.
“It looked apocalyptic. It came within a mile.”
He added: “It’s amazing, I mean, we’ve had people in the hotel who have lost everything, and they were just grateful to be allowed to swim in the pool.”
The family are now waiting on a flight back to the UK.
The wildfires are Hawaii’s deadliest natural disaster since a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people.
Hawaii emergency management records show no indication that warning sirens sounded before people ran for their lives from wildfires on Maui that killed at least 55 people and wiped out a historic town.
Thomas Leonard, a 70-year-old retired mailman from centuries-old Lahaina, didn’t know about the fire until he smelled smoke. Power and mobile phone service had both gone out earlier on Tuesday, leaving the town with no real-time information about the danger.
He tried to leave in his Jeep, but had to abandon the vehicle and run to the shore when cars nearby began exploding. He hid behind a seawall for hours, the wind blowing hot ash and cinders over him.
President Joe Biden declared a major disaster on Maui on Thursday and promised to streamline requests for assistance to the island.
Maui’s firefighting efforts may also have been hampered by a small staff, said Bobby Lee, the president of the Hawaii Firefighters Association.
High winds caused by Hurricane Dora made this week’s task especially difficult. “You’re basically dealing with trying to fight a blowtorch,” Lee said.
Marlon Vasquez, a 31-year-old cook from Guatemala who came to the U.S. in January 2022, said that when he heard fire alarms, it was already too late to flee in his car.
“I opened the door, and the fire was almost on top of us,” he said from an evacuation center at a gymnasium. “We ran and ran. We ran almost the whole night and into the next day, because the fire didn’t stop.”
Mr Vasquez and his brother Eduardo escaped via roads that were clogged with vehicles. The smoke was so toxic that he vomited. He said he’s not sure his roommates and neighbors made it to safety.
Chelsey Vierra said on Thursday that she didn’t know if her great-grandmother, Louise Abihai, managed to escape her senior living facility, which witnesses saw erupt in flames.
“She doesn’t have a phone. She’s 97 years old,” Ms Vierra said. “She can walk. She is strong.”
