MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Lahaina, Maui, may have been destroyed b...

Lahaina, Maui, may have been destroyed by a wildfire.

posted 9 months ago by Otter (24464)
8 replies | jump to latest

Multiple reports of people jumping into the ocean to escape the flames, and being rescued by the Coast Guard.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/lahaina-maui-fires-live-updates-rcna98986

I'm incredibly saddened by this, there are wildfires all over Maui which are being fueled by winds from the edge of Hurricane Dora, but Lahaina seems to be the largest urban area affected. It's a lovely town where I've spent some charming hours, and now I don't know if there's much left.

[–] Daft_Munks (4160) 9 months ago

That sucks :(

[–] [deleted] 9 months ago

six dead. such a beautiful place.

[–] 102000 (6138) 9 months ago

Agree - I have been there several times and it's sad to see this happening.

[–] ShogunofYonkers (72485) 9 months ago

Jeez, that’s awful. That was some scary footage.

[–] Otter (24464) 9 months ago

This article contains footage from a helicopter flight from today, and while some buildings are still standing... well, it's hard to see a lot of detail with the smoke and poor picture quality, but see for yourselves.

https://www.sfgate.com/hawaii/article/much-of-lahaina-maui-destroyed-wildfires-18287496.php

That's the thing about fires, they can be weirdly idiosyncratic. I live in California and have been to the aftermath of many fires, and there are always areas where one tree or one house is untouched, while surrounded by blackened devastation. And then, there are areas which are all devastation...

[–] rex (2842) 9 months ago

36 reported dead

[–] Otter (24464) 9 months ago

I knew the number would rise. The same things happened in California four years ago, the town of Paradise was burned down and everyone in town had to run for their lives. The official death toll was finally set at 85, but that took a while, the fire moved so quickly that many weren't able to get out in time, some were trapped in their own homes and were not found for some time.

I'm afraid it might be similar in Lahaina, the fire moved VERY fast and there was no warning, it wasn't possible to evacuate the town ahead of the fire. All I can hope for is that the death toll will be lower than it was in Paraside, Paradise is a forest town and there was no ocean to use as the last refuge.

[–] rex (2842) 9 months ago

no way the number stays that low
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgE0OuY0J84&pp=ygUZYWVyaWFsIHZpZXcgbGFoYWluYSBmaXJlIA%3D%3D