My life have been pretty magical since moving to Maui, but that all came crashing down on August 8th when our home nearly burned in the Kula Fire. Here's a haunting photo captured by our next door neighbor moments before the mandatory evacuation. Unfortunately, two homes in this photo were burned to the ground.
👍 Highlights
In June, Carter turned 6! We celebrated with a party at the Fun Factory (Carter’s choice), a strip mall arcade that smells like popcorn and dirty feet, i.e. the most awesome place in the world when you’re six.
In July, I traveled to Hilo, on the Big Island, to serve as a guest facilitator for Nalukai Academy, a 10 day entrepreneurship camp for high school students from across the Hawaiian Islands.
In late August, Mike Raab and I met up at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles to co-teach a class I designed that was inspired by our book, Founded.
Civic Beat, a online news publication in Hawaii, featured my work on water contamination following the wildfires in this article: Kula Resident Digs Into Data to Make Sense of Water Testing.
👎 Lowlight
The realization that nowhere is safe from the ravages of climate change.
🔥The Kula Fire
On Tuesday, August 8th, I woke up to a power outage in Kula. The wind, which is usually cool, was warm and blowing from the opposite direction. It felt unusual and eerie. The air would be perfectly still and then there’d be a huge, powerful gust that could knock me over. Overnight, the Olinda Fire, had started several miles to the north in Makawao.
As the day unfolded, the winds intensified, and the scent of smoke filled the air. At 11:50 am, I texted my husband, Dave, who was at work, "Power's out again. Lots of sirens and unusually strong winds. It's unsettling." The air grew smokier. At noon, I texted a friend who lives about a quarter mile uphill from us, and she replied, "There's a new fire in the gulch right next to our house. We just evacuated!" (Later, I would learn that the Kula Fire had started from a downed power line in her backyard.)
I grabbed a suitcase and began packing frantically. I loaded up the car with Carter, Lincoln (our dog), and two suitcases, and headed to a friend's house in Paia, on the north shore. By 6 pm, our neighborhood was under mandatory evacuation, and one of the last neighbors to leave the neighborhood sent me this chilling photo:
Another neighbor shared this video (click to view):
From our friend’s house, over 8 miles away, Dave and I watched our gulch erupt in flames, fearing we were seeing our neighborhood burn. Simultaneously, we saw a third fire, the Pulehu Fire, roaring to life. While that fire mainly consumed empty ranch land, it was an enormous fire. Tragically, we also started hearing reports of a fourth fire, the Lahaina Fire, which had burned Lahaina to the ground.
I didn’t sleep that night. In the morning, I learned that although two of our neighbors' houses were lost, thanks to the heroic efforts of firefighters and a few courageous neighbors, the rest of our neighborhood was spared. We stayed with friends for over two weeks while dealing with flare-ups, smoke damage, and contaminated water. In all, the Kula Fire burned 202 acres and 20 homes, including one belonging to Carter's classmate.
The Washington Post published an article describing the "compounding disasters" that contributed to these fires, including highly combustible non-native plants and an ongoing drought. Maui remains in a state of moderate to severe drought. I fear that our fire troubles are not behind us.
Maui is a tight-knit community of 165,000 local residents. Everyone has been deeply affected by this traumatic event. With nearly 100 lives lost, over 2,000 homes and businesses in ashes, and thousands of people displaced, we are all grappling with what comes next. It will take many, many years to rebuild.
I am committed to doing my part to help our community regain its self-reliance, resilience, and preparedness to confront future disasters. What can you do to help? Four out of every five dollars in our economy comes from tourism. Book a trip to Maui. Rest, relax, and enjoy! However, remember to be exceptionally kind and respectful during your visit. Everyone you meet, whether it's your Uber driver, waiter, or tour guide, has been touched by loss in some way. Maui may be wounded, but its spirit of aloha remains unbroken.
🤙Lessons from the Fire
Here are a few lessons I wanted to share from the fire:
Insurance and an inventory. Make sure you have homeowners or renters insurance. Make a video inventory of your belongings with your phone.
Prepare for a fast exit. Have a go bag, evacuation plan, and a list of what to grab. It’s hard to remember where your birth certificate is when you’re freaking out.
Trust your instincts. It’s ok to leave when you feel unsafe. Don’t wait for a mandatory evacuation order to leave your home in an emergency.
🌺 With aloha,
Melissa
Such courage during the time of disaster and ever since. Thanks for sharing!