The wind pushed flames from house to house as a group of neighbors tried to escape their blazing subdivision, abandoning their cars in a blocked road and running to an industrial outbuilding for safety. All six perished just blocks from their homes.
The group, including an 11-year-old and his parents, was among the victims whose desperate attempts to escape the Lahaina wildfire were detailed for the first time in a report released Friday.
The investigation by the Fire Safety Research Institute for the Hawaii attorney general’s office delved into the conditions that fed the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century and the attempts to stop its spread and evacuate the town’s residents.
It found “no evidence” of Hawaii officials making preparations for the wildfire, despite days of warnings that critical fire weather was coming, and that the lack of planning hindered efforts to evacuate Lahaina before it burned.
At least 102 people died in the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire that was fueled by bone-dry conditions and strong winds from a hurricane passing to Maui’s south.
Joseph Lara, 86, was found outside his purple 2003 Ford Ranger pickup truck at the parking structure of an outlet mall and “could have been trying to go north on Front Street before he was stuck in traffic,” according to the report.
His daughter told The Associated Press on Friday that she tries not to think about how he might still be alive if he had taken a different turn to escape.
“He was alone. He didn’t have anyone to tell him he should go here, here, here,” Misty Lara said. “I can’t fathom what his final thoughts were.”
The report is a reminder of the trauma experienced by the roughly 17,000 people who survived by driving through fire and blinding smoke, outrunning the flames on foot or bike or huddling in the ocean behind a seawall for hours as propane tanks and car batteries exploded around them.
“I grew up in Lahaina and like many in that community, I lost family on Aug. 8,” said Deputy Attorney General Ciara Kahahane. “Through my involvement in this investigation, I tried to humbly serve as a voice for you, the people of Lahaina.”
More than 60% of the victims tried to flee, with many discovered inside or outside their cars or huddled against the seawall. Nearly 80% of the fatalities were in the central part of Lahaina, where the fire flared and spread quickly in the afternoon, allowing little time to evacuate.
Many were stuck in traffic jams created by downed power poles, accidents, traffic signals that weren’t working and poor visibility. Some back roads that could have provided an alternative escape were blocked by locked gates.
For those who were evacuating, the distance between their home and the locations where they were recovered was on average 800 feet (244 meters), according to the report.
One couple was found in their car after turning onto a dead-end street in the chaos, with the flames behind them boxing them in. A man found huddled in the entranceway of a house had abandoned his car, presumably to seek refuge from the heat and smoke.
Others took refuge alone in fast food restaurants or furniture stores.
Six other residents of the independent-living complex who didn’t evacuate died inside their apartments. Their average age was 86.
Some older people did try 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 housing complex on a motorized scooter, but it ran out of power as the flames advanced, according to an autopsy report released after her death.
Badly burned, she stayed in hospice for seven months until she died in March.
She was the 102nd — and final — victim to be identified.
