HONOLULU — Winds drove flames from house to accommodate as a gaggle of neighbors tried to flee their burning neighborhood. They abandoned their cars on a blocked road and ran to an outbuilding in an industrial area for safety. All six died just blocks from their homes.
The group, which included an 11-year-old and his parents, were among the many victims whose desperate attempts to flee the Lahaina wildfire were first detailed in a report released Friday. The investigation by the Fire Safety Research Institute for the Hawaii Attorney General's Office checked out the conditions that fueled the deadliest U.S. wildfire in greater than a century, in addition to attempts to stop its spread and evacuate the town's residents.
“No evidence” was found that Hawaii authorities had made preparations for the wildfires, though there had been warnings of an impending fire danger for days. The lack of planning hampered the evacuation of Lahaina before the fireplace.
At least 102 people died within the August 8, 2023, wildfire, which was fueled by bone-dry conditions and robust winds from a hurricane that passed south of Maui.
Joseph Lara, 86, was found outside his purple 2003 Ford Ranger pickup truck within the parking garage of an outlet mall and “may have attempted to drive north on Front Street before becoming stuck in traffic,” the report said.
His daughter told The Associated Press on Friday that she tried to not think that he might still be alive if he had taken a distinct route during his escape.
“He was alone. He had no one to tell him to go here, here, here,” Misty Lara said. “I can't fathom what his last thoughts were.”
The report recalls the trauma of the roughly 17,000 individuals who survived by driving through fire and blinding smoke, escaping the flames on foot or by bicycle, or huddled for hours within the sea behind a seawall while propane tanks and automobile batteries exploded around them.
“I grew up in Lahaina and, like many others in this community, lost loved ones on August 8,” said Assistant Attorney General Ciara Kahahane. “Through my participation in this investigation, I have humbly sought to give you, the people of Lahaina, a voice.”
More than 60 percent of the victims attempted to flee. Many were found huddled in or outside their cars or on the seawall. Nearly 80 percent of the fatalities occurred in downtown Lahaina, where the fireplace began within the afternoon and spread quickly, leaving little time for evacuation.
Many were stuck in traffic jams brought on by fallen electricity poles, accidents, broken traffic lights and poor visibility. Some side roads that might have offered an alternate escape route were blocked by locked gates.
For those evacuated, the typical distance between their homes and the place where they were rescued was 244 meters, based on the report.
A pair was present in their automobile after turning right into a dead-end street within the chaos, with flames behind them. A person found huddled within the doorway of a house had abandoned his automobile, presumably to flee the warmth and smoke. Others sought refuge alone in fast-food restaurants or furniture stores.
Lahaina's already dilapidated infrastructure complicated evacuation efforts, the report said. The living situation of prolonged families meant that many households had multiple vehicles parked on crowded, narrow streets, creating bottlenecks during evacuations and clogging fire hydrants.
One street, Kuhua Street, had essentially the most fatalities: greater than two dozen victims were found on or near the narrow stretch of road that was the one path to safety for a lot of residents of the densely populated neighborhood.
It was the identical street where, based on the report, a fireplace truck was engulfed in flames and a fireplace company nearly lost its life. And it was the identical street where a automobile crash trapped 10 people, whose bodies were present in or next to cars.
Joseph Schilling, 67, was found next to a fence on Kuhua Street, lower than a half-mile from the senior living complex where he lived. Emergency dispatchers had already tried to assist several individuals who had called 911 to report that the road had change into impassable.
Six other residents of the apartment complex who weren’t evacuated died of their apartments. Their average age was 86 years.
Some elderly people tried to evacuate, even without reliable transportation.
Claudette Heermance, 68, called 911 to ask what to do and dispatchers told her to evacuate. She left her senior living facility on a motor scooter, but it surely lost power because the flames approached, based on an autopsy report released after her death.
She suffered severe burns and remained in hospice for seven months until she died in March.
She was the 102nd and final victim to be identified.
Lauer reported from Philadelphia.
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