Smallmon Ohana - Maui Fire Support

Aloha,

My name is Challys Pascual, and I am writing this on behalf of my stepfather, mother, and grandparents. To family and friends near, far, and within Maui, we ask that you listen to our story.

On the Tuesday morning of August 8th, West Maui was greeted with 20 mph winds from Hurricane Dora, which was passing miles south of the Hawaiian Islands. The day started with a power outage. Then, there was word of a brush fire starting near the top of Lahainaluna road. This road leads people up and down to the heart of town, the schools, and of course, the surrounding homes. Meanwhile, we thought the roof tiles that were slowly tearing off of our house would be our only concern. It wasn't until approximately 4:00pm hit, when the 20 mph winds increased to 80, that the fire we thought was far enough away and contained was worse than we could ever imagine. Smoke billowed down, triggering our alarms as we went in and out of the house to pack our car, and thankfully we made it out with our beloved pets. There were no emergency alerts sent to our phones. We and many other cars headed downtown thinking it would be safe, but with winds at such high speed, embers flew and hit multiple structures, causing buildings on Front Street to burn before our eyes. With fire nearly trapping the traffic of cars, my family made the quick decision to turn around to go towards Central Maui. With downed traffic lights, power lines, trees, and thick, blinding smoke, we barely made it out of Lahaina. Had we not done this, we would have been among the many people that had to abandon their cars and jump into the ocean for safety. Since coming to Wailuku, photos show that our home and town has turned to rubble.

We are grateful to be alive and reunite with my grandparents, whom we didn't locate until a day later. However, we can only fend for ourselves with the money we have in our pockets and banks for so long. The more days that pass, the more our survival becomes a financial burden. Please consider donating any ounce of money to our family. This will go towards hopefully rebuilding our house (whenever that is possible), repurchasing valuables lost in the fire, pet food and supplies, and other necessary items. Thank you for all of the prayers, thoughts, phone calls, and texts. We sincerely appreciate it.