Our story of visiting Hawaii during the devastating fires of August 2023
On Aug. 8, 2023, one of the deadliest wildfires in modern U.S. history took place in Maui, Hawaii, killing at least 114 people, with an estimated 1,000 unaccounted for, who are missing and presumed dead, in addition to tens of billions of dollars in damages. Just 32 hours before the wildfires, we had landed on the beautiful island of Maui, Hawaii for a planned family holiday. Words can’t describe our feelings. Here is a short journal of the days of the fire.
MONDAY, Aug. 7
We arrived yesterday in Kapalua, a beautiful and secluded village on the northwestern shore. Golf courses sprawled out along the roads, surrounding the homes, condos, and resorts, all built up along the rocky volcanic coast.
Today we went to Lahaina to see the Front Street shops. We were tired so it was a short walk along the waterfront, but extremely beautiful. It was a very cute town with historical and old-fashioned buildings lining the water. An enormous 200-year-old Banyan tree stood at the center of town, the pride of the village. Small shops lined the streets: a stand presented jewelry from shells and coral, handmade by a local woman; a man had a photo stand with macaws and cockatoos; a display of smoothly carved rich Hawaiian Koa wood stood on another corner right in front of the shaved ice stand; t-shirt shops, restaurants, and even a historical library caught our eyes. We didn’t have much time so we thought to ourselves, we will definitely come back tomorrow and see the charming town some more.
We finished the day snorkeling at Kapalua Beach. The feel of American Hawaii basked over us, the large beach-front resorts, rolling hills of perfected grass, umbrellas, cabanas, and hammocks sprawling before us. The tranquility was breathtaking. No words nor pictures can capture the beauty or joy in God’s creation. The fish in the reef were colorful and exotic like in the Red Sea. A huge green sea turtle swam up, munching on his meal completely content with our presence. The coral sand softly absorbed our feet. It was a perfect sunset evening.
TUESDAY, Aug. 8
On our second morning in Maui, we awoke to no power. We couldn’t make coffee or breakfast due to the lack of electricity, and all the local shops and restaurants were closed without electricity. So we decided to drive to another part of the island to get coffee and explore the lush green native land.
The traffic started just minutes into our journey and what would be a 15-minute drive to Lahaina turned into hours. Slowly, as we sat in the traffic in downtown Lahaina and enjoyed the architecture of the town, the closed shops all around began to hint that restoration of power might take longer than we expected. We saw the road ahead of us close from debris and fallen power lines, workers diligently attending to the tangled mess. Several other routes through the small town were closed for the same reason, and also due to a brush fire. The gravity of the situation began to sink in. Trees were bending to 90-degree angles, threatening the buildings underneath. The power lines were swaying wildly, causing concern that they might collapse onto our car. Huge jets of sea spray blew across the tumultuous waves, which were getting bigger and closer; at times they would splash up onto the road. All we could think about was going towards the center of the island where the power was on. Staying up north with three little kids might get pretty rough, isolated up the coast without a way in or out, without power, and only a few uncookable groceries and local shops and restaurants closed. We became determined to push through and return in the afternoon once the electricity was back on, and Luke decided we would not stop until we found an operational traffic light, signaling comfort and safety.
Three hours later, we arrived at the center of the island and finally found electricity. We felt calm and continued to a beautiful forested hike. After an hour or so, we got a spot of reception and saw a message on our phones that the Lahaina bypass was closed again due to the fire; shortly after, another message came in saying that Lahaina was being evacuated further west to Kaanapali as the fire raged. As evening approached, we received more emergency alerts on our phones about other fires and evacuations around the island.
By dinner time, there were three growing fires on the small island: Lihaina, which isolated the northwestern part of the island where our accommodation was; Kihei, which was heading towards the southwestern highway, another main tourist hub; and Kula, seemingly coming down the volcano and encroaching on the eastern highway. It felt as though the only safe place to be was the center of the island, at the airport city of Kahului.
It became evident that we were not going to be able to return to our accommodation. With all the hotels, Airbnbs, and inns on the island booked out, we called the emergency agency to see about the shelters that were being set up. The kind woman’s voice was firm and quiet: “If you’re traveling with children, I would go to a store right now and pick up some pillows and blankets, food and water. The shelters are on bare minimum- bathrooms without electricity, or supplies.” The road closures and lack of electricity from the multiple fires seemed to have limited the capacity to get things up and running.
Survival mentality immediately began sinking in. A chill went down my spine as I thought two things: It’s 21:00 on a small island, where will we find supplies at this hour? And will my children be sleeping on the bare floor of a gymnasium with no security or safety from strangers also seeking shelter? There were only three shelters open at that point; one was inaccessible to us, and the other two seemed too close to growing fires. Boxed in and with our adrenaline kicking in, we drove towards the airport looking for a last chance at a vacant hotel room, passing the blazing fires that were too close for comfort.
Once we arrived at Kahului, we went from hotel to hotel but each one turned us down with the wave of other travelers. Trying to keep things positive, Luke suggested that this is how Joseph and Mary must have felt in Bethlehem as they were looking for an inn. Finally, at the last place we tried, the receptionist said, “I’m sorry, we are fully occupied. But I can tell you that Whole Foods has a brightly lit parking lot.” It suddenly hit us: we were going to have to sleep in our cars tonight and safety was a concern. The romantic thought of falling asleep overlooking the sea with the sunrise to greet us would remain a fantasy. We now were in survival mode, and no one knew what lay ahead.
In a search for overnight essential supplies, we found Walmart still open for another half hour. The parking lot was brimming with cars and people. As we walked hurriedly towards the entrance, we saw sheets covering some of the car windows. People were here to sleep in their cars!
Carts filled to the brim, cases of water stacked up. My immediate instinct was to go for the most essential items. Shelves emptied so quickly as I found myself running & grabbing the last of each item: the last power bank for the phones, the last pillows, and travel-sized toiletries. It was like what we’d seen in movies: everyone well-mannered with hints of fear and uneasiness in their eyes and voices.
As we reached the exit with carts full and the store minutes from closing, the staff announced that in light of the situation, they would keep the bathrooms open all night. Relief flooded over us.
We opened the newly purchased toothbrushes, brushed our teeth, washed our faces, and returned to the car knowing that we were sleeping there for the night. How would the kids manage sleeping in the car? We would have to see hour by hour. We then heard of another shelter being opened: the high school gymnasium in Kahului. Based on the situation of the other shelters, we knew that the Walmart parking lot was still our best option. That night, our eldest daughter cried herself to sleep, being consoled with a notion of fun-filled adventure car camping.
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 9
Crazy weather from Hurricane Dora (which passed south of Hawaii) wrought massive winds across the island all day, causing at least 30 electric poles to go down and 3 massive fires on the island at three different locations. The beautiful town of Lahaina, where we were yesterday and the day before, burned down almost completely. The beautiful historic streets are ash. Over a thousand people have been missing since the evacuation in Lahaina. The death toll is rising. There are no words to describe our shock and grief for those victims.
There is still no electricity on the western side of Maui. The Lahaina bypass is still closed and the northeastern “back road” is closed too. We cannot reach anyone on that side of the island. Even the cell phone lines are down. Kihei was also evacuated last night, including the shelter for evacuees that was set up there last night.
We are in Kahului where seemingly 6 of the island’s other major population centers are also evacuated and sheltering. It’s crazy over here. No hotels, AirBnBs, hostels; there are no rooms! We cannot sleep in the car again. The shelter has been turning people away because it is too full.
All of our belongings (passports and medicine included) are out of reach in Kapalua. We are hearing that tourists are being asked to leave, but we cannot board a plane without our passports. Since the road is closed, we are stuck here.
We were hoping to return to our accommodation tonight, but we are going to be sleeping in a school gymnasium in Kahului with hundreds of other people instead. While it is humbling, we are incredibly fortunate and there are so many blessings about it. Thankfully there is electricity, plenty of food and water, hot showers, supplies, and bedding and cots to sleep on. Miraculously, there is a baby crib too. So much food and snacks are being donated by local restaurants, and there is also an endless amount of bottled water, and diapers, even nurses and doctors have volunteered to help with medical needs. There is a kids' corner with activities for our little girls, with lots of toys and games too. We are grateful and uplifted by the generous and loving community of people who have gathered to help each other out. They have been especially kind to us, looking after us as a family.
At the same time, this survival mode has frustratingly kept me from appreciating the full depth of joy and relief in provision. The overwhelming atmosphere of grief prevails and there is still a feeling of uncertainty and concern. The news of what has happened in Lahaina is awful and unimaginable. We have just started to hear stories from people who survived it. And yet the fire is continuing, now going towards Kaanapali, and the wind isn’t getting calmer like it was expected. Safety is the biggest concern and some people say the route might not reopen for another 3-4 days.
My daughter and I met a woman today whose home burned down in Lahaina. She said that she didn’t know that she should leave her home until the ash was so strong it burned her eyes. She has nothing left. Since the shelter was still being set up, she had to wash herself off in the bathroom sink. Her eyes are red from the ash and she is in shock. We are all in shock with her too.
FRIDAY, Aug. 11
This is our third day since the fire started. It’s been crazy over here. I can’t seem to find the words to describe the reality. So much destruction and grieving, worry over resources and recovery, and missing persons and loved ones. We have experienced such an insane whirlwind of pain and emotions for the people here as they are so devastated. We’re going day by day to do what we can. Prayers for the people here are heavy.
Thankfully we were able to retrieve our passports, medicines, and belongings yesterday. Without our passports, we would not be able to fly off the island, which is what we were being told to do on the news. On one hand, it made no sense to attempt to get back to the resort, since for almost 48 hours the routes back were completely blocked off by the National Guard and local police, and hundreds (if not thousands) of cars were waiting hours trying to get back as well but they are turned down at the blockade. However, we felt a strong impression to go towards the northern route of the island to get our belongings, which is a narrow, windy, and dangerous road.
As we approached the blockade, we were stopped by the authorities. The policeman politely asked where we were headed. We told him the truth, that we were from Israel and needed to get our passports and medicine before we could fly back. He replied, “Israel, the motherland…” and then told us about the 30 burnt and dead bodies scattered throughout the road that he had to collect the previous day in Lahaina from the fire. He was so heavily burdened by this pain. It seems like the local Hawaiians here know loved ones from there (or are from there themselves). We choked back tears as he shared his account with us. He graciously let us through trusting us to be honest about our mission.
We drove up that insanely beautifully but winding one-lane cliffed road for an hour and a half with what seemed like caravans of cars coming in the opposite direction, all evacuating from West Maui. At one point, as we were right on the edge of the high cliff on the right & the mountain wall on our left, at the narrowest and windiest stretch we had encountered, between 70-100 cars approached from the opposite ridge towards us on a hairpin turn. We had to reverse backward up the switchbacks sandwiched between 3 other cars, uphill on a super narrow windy road, high in the mountains on the edge of a cliff to release the traffic jam! It was frightening. I had to close my eyes, breathe deeply, and just Trust God. We only made it thanks to the reverse camera on the car and some kind people who exited their cars to help back us up and to stop the endless oncoming cars on the other side of the ridge. Some of them were large trucks and vans, barely scraping by us. While going through the area, we passed by people on foot and by car who were driving crazy trying to get into Lahaina to find their children, who they hadn’t heard from since the fire three days ago. There was so much tension. Some of them were so nice, you couldn’t tell that they were worried and grieving inside because of how kind and peaceful they were. (As scary and anxious as the route was, driving that route was one of the things on my Maui bucket list. I feel so blessed to have been able to do it!)
Once we got to the condo property, we saw that there was still no electricity, no cellphone reception, telephone lines were down; no way to communicate. Gas stations had run out of fuel. No food or essentials. People lined up for hours to get emergency food supplies from the trucks bringing it from the center. It was 35 degrees Celsius and there was no AC. We had heard that running water had just been restored. Exit from the area was on/off as the fire was still going in Lahaina and the backroad was being closed again. Someone asked if we were going to stay, and were conflicted because it was so beautiful and peaceful compared with the gymnasium shelter by the airport. But we had no way of communicating with the rest of our family to tell them where we were (we had to split up that morning to try to accomplish the different missions of retrieving passports and finding accommodation), and it wasn’t sustainable for our young girls to stay there in those conditions. We also didn’t want to consume the emergency supplies for local families who were being sheltered down the road at the other hotels either. The girls helping out at the resort told us that they couldn’t go back home and had to stay in the hotels where they worked instead. To add to it, our car’s fuel tank was only 35% full so we couldn’t get around & also back to the center. So we decided to pack up as fast as we could, try to stuff three families' worth of luggage all into the car (packing the most important items first, and least essential last in case it didn’t fit) and then go back towards the airport if the road was open. We gave away our water, food & snacks to whoever needed it (and we could see they were eager for it). On our way out, we found a temporary cellular access point that was set up for a couple of hours (they were about to take it down when we got to it). We were told that the road through Lahaina was closed again, so we tried to go through the back road. It was blocked and we weren’t allowed to go through, so we tried again to Lahaina, being warned that we might get stuck between checkpoints and cautioned about the biohazardous zone.
What we saw downtown Lahaina was devastating. The city that we had seen two days earlier, had burnt to the ground like ancient ruins from centuries ago. Scorched appliances and cars were the only things still standing indicating that a home was there. Nearly all of the small shops & homes seemed destroyed, burnt cars everywhere and lined up on the roads as though they were stuck in traffic and time stood still. The few remaining structures stood out among the destruction: a supermarket, gas station, a modern shopping center, a few churches, and the new houses on the upper ridge of Lahaina. Power lines were still down, fires continued to burn in various sizes and locations, and the smell of tainted smoke prevailed.
As we arrived towards the south of the island to rejoin our family where one of the main tourist hubs is, a different atmosphere filled the air and the disparity was disorienting. We are only half an hour from Lahaina and the streets in Kihei and Wailea feel completely unaffected. They are filled with tourists swimming and snorkeling at the beach just miles from where bodies were found in the water, people ordered huge meals while others were starving just a few towns away; loud music at night clubs and restaurants filled the night air while quiet darkness lay up to the northwest where there was no power. You wouldn’t even know that such a tragedy has happened so close by. That saying, “Everyone grieves in their own way and in their own time” comes to mind. But insensitivity rings another tone as one of the tourists cruelly and selfishly complained to one of the fire victims working in town, “This fire ruined my vacation”, completely oblivious to the greater pain that is present on this small island. It broke our hearts to hear the voices of the victims and their sense of how people can be careless so close to this massive devastation.
On one hand, businesses need to continue and the workers need their salaries, but at the same time, I wonder how strong they must be to do what they have to. We went for a walk this evening in Wailea to get out of the “party vibe”, and saw many Luaus taking place. My heart sinks for those who are performing tonight. How can they do it with such grace, with everything going on with their friends, family, and community?
We have been hearing so many heartbreaking stories from some of the Hawaiians here and there is so much confusion. The first responders are saying that the death toll is higher than what we see in the news. We have heard that the roads in Lahaina were covered in bodies discovered after the fire and body bags ran out on the first day; the burned cars are also filled with victims who couldn’t get out in time, their remains are nothing but ash. The death toll that is being reported only includes the identifiable bodies. The guess is the death toll is in the hundreds- at least (some say a thousand or more). Some people were rescued from the water; it was their only escape. Bodies are being recovered from the water, but some say many may never be found.
One worker told me that he is at work today for his family. He grew up in Lahaina and his eyes seem glazed over with shock. All of his family member’s homes and businesses burned down. He told me, “Now it is up to me to work and make money to provide for them.” He is only in his twenties and has a baby close to the age of ours. He was tearing up and showed me pictures. His uncle arranged for a boat to come from Oahu with supplies for them, and the boat was turned away. He shook his head in disbelief; he couldn’t understand why that would happen when people are going hungry and have nothing.
One of the volunteers at the shelter told me yesterday that he has family in Lahaina who lost everything. He is so worried that he couldn’t sleep all night thinking about his close and lifelong friends who he hasn’t heard from. He works in construction and couldn’t go to work with the rest of the crew in Lahaina to work on the rubble; instead, he came to the gym shelter at 5:30 in the morning to help. He was crying when he saw our baby sleeping in his own son’s crib. He brought it to the shelter the previous day so that it could be of use; his 2-year-old boy is sleeping with him in his bed now instead. It was the only crib that was brought to the shelter, and our little girl was the only baby there. Neither of us could describe how touched and blessed we were by that.
The resilience of the local community here is indescribable. Amid all their pain, they are coming together, sharing their stories, collecting goods at restaurants, volunteering their time, working endlessly, and all the while welcoming their guests and clients with big smiles and great kindness. It amazes me how much love is going around. Even the big Hawaiian police officer who let us through the backroad barricade showed us so much grace, smiling and calling Israel the “motherland” while bearing his pain.
Thankfully, while we were up north, the rest of the family succeeded in finding a place for us to stay the night in Kihei. It turns out that the hotels are not accepting tourists because they are first offering them to displaced locals. Because of that, we are on a nightly basis here, giving priority to those in greater need.
Our flight is on Sunday, there are no earlier flights available, and our airline is not allowing airport changes. Meanwhile, the Kahului airport is over congested with people trying to leave; many are going to Oahu where there are more shelters and hotels. So we’re taking it day by day and trying to get out as quickly as possible while trying to figure out how we can help in the meantime, extending God’s comfort to those we meet at the very least, and finding meaning wherever we can. Thankfully, we are safe now and in a peaceful area, hopefully, God’s peace will fill me too.
MONDAY, Aug. 12
On our last day in Maui, I was walking with my daughter along the road in Kihei after lunch at Nalu’s, where the restaurant has been collecting items for donation. Supply runs are done three times a day from there. As we walked in the hot sun, we happened upon some Hawaiian girls selling homegrown limes and eggplants on the side of the road. When I asked what they were doing they said, “We are raising money for Lahaina” in the sweetest and most optimistic voices nine-year-olds have. They told me about their families who live there, and everyone is ok. Their parents came to Kihei to work: Dad works on boats, and Mom cleans hotels. School got canceled so they walked here to sell fruit and contribute what they could. We told them we were from Israel. They were amazed by the distance it was by plane, laughing in disbelief. A third girl approached by bike carrying their lunch- a new supply of ripe mangoes fresh from their tree. My heart melted at their innocence as I wondered how much they understood about what was happening. They were so touched by our visit that they offered us their lunch in gratitude. Tomorrow we are going home.
AFTERWARD, WEDNESDAY, Aug. 16
It was very hard being there in Maui, after having been to the town just the day before it burned down, the closeness of it all & our journey of how we ended up on the other side. We were so close to the tragedy and felt it in so many ways. We couldn’t look past the victims or their situation. We had felt it strongly as they all shared with us about how each of them was suffering. I was grieving deeply in my heart and my tears would erupt at random as I processed all the feelings. We were so fortunate and blessed. As I packed my bags on the last day, all I could think about was those fire victims who lost everything and their children who were probably wearing the same set of clothes for days as my children had on those first days of the fire. I passed over each item in our kids’ bags cherishing the memories they each carried as I put many of them into piles to wash and give to the local families.
Looking back on it, life feels so fragile and yet so resilient. We are so grateful for God’s protection, His shelter and providence for all of us, the community and fellowship that he brought us, and the deepening of our faith through trusting in Him during such uncertain times. There’s no doubt in our minds that each of the decisions that we had to make was guided by the Holy Spirit, gently bringing us along this very deep journey. After all, I can only imagine that God brought us to that place to feel a little bit of what is in His heart.
Luke and Sarah Gasiorowski are leaders of Helping Hand Coalition for Israel, a humanitarian organization that serves Holocaust survivors and underprivileged populations in Israel.
