Firefighters continued to battle the blaze, which was not yet fully contained.
, at least three wildfires erupted on Maui this week, racing through parched brush covering the island.
Summer and Gilles Gerling sought to salvage keepsakes from the ashes of their home. But all they could find was the piggy bank Summer Gerling’s father gave her as a child, their daughter’s jade bracelet and the watches they gifted each other for their wedding.They described their fear as the strong wind whipped the smoke and flames closer. But they said they were just happy that they and their two children made it out alive.
Lahaina’s wildfire risk is well known. Maui County’s hazard mitigation plan, last updated in 2020, identified Lahaina and other West Maui communities as having frequent wildfires and a large number of buildings at risk of wildfire damage. Maui’s firefighting efforts may also have been hampered by a small staff, said Bobby Lee, president of the Hawaii Firefighters Association. There are a maximum of 65 firefighters working at any given time in the county, and they are responsible for three islands — Maui, Molokai and Lanai — he said.
But Andrew Whelton, an engineering professor at Purdue University whose team was called in after the Camp Fire and the 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado, said “showering in water that potentially contains hazardous waste levels of benzene is not advisable” and a do-not-use order would be appropriate until sampling and analysis have been done.
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