UNITED STATES NEWS

As flames swallowed Maui, survivors made harrowing escapes

Aug 11, 2023, 11:53 AM | Updated: 6:38 pm

An immigrant cook building a new life. A widow preparing to say goodbye. A couple taking their wedding vows.

All were caught in the crossfire, forced to flee as flames swallowed parts of Maui, that drop in the Pacific where roads wind past waterfalls, turtles glide through gem-blue waters and a volcano towers overhead.

These are the stories of the survivors:

___

Mike Cicchino cowered in the back of a van with his wife. Flames and choking black smoke surrounded them. People ran and screamed. The sound of explosions thundered.

“We’ve got to prepare to die,” he thought.

He called his mother and told her how much he loved her, then his brother, then the toughest of all, his 4-year-old daughter who was safe with her mother. Every labored breath felt like his last.

“I love you,” he told his daughter. “Be good. You know I’m always going to be there for you.”

Only about 15 minutes had passed since Cicchino and his wife, Andreza, had left their home in their truck and driven through a “straight out of a movie” disaster scene. After police roadblocks forced them onto Front Street, they ditched their truck, running one way, then another, finding walls of flames in their path.

They took shelter in the van, thinking it might provide some protection from the smoke. But, seeing the flames fan closer, they sprinted for the sea wall and jumped over to the sharp rocks below.

They dunked their shirts in water, wrapped them around their noses, and crouched low against the wall, trying to escape the smoke. As wood buildings ignited, the embers singed their skin.

With the blaze moving closer and flames licking the top of the wall, they jumped into the ocean.

For the next five or six hours they oscillated between sea and craggy shore. Cicchino, who is 37 and has lived on Maui since he was a child, darted back and forth helping others get over the wall.

At least one of the people he approached was dead.

As the hours passed and he carried more and more people, his rib cage ached and his eyes were nearly swollen shut. At one point, he fell to his knees and vomited.

A Coast Guard boat eventually neared shore and took a couple of children aboard just as firefighters were arriving on land. He and his wife were led by firefighters to a pickup, driving through flames to escape.

They made their way to a triage center, then a shelter. Until the end, he thought he would die.

His phone, saved by a waterproof bag, suddenly got a signal. Now he could spread word he was alive.

___

By the time Marlon Vasquez heard the alarms, there was only time to run.

The 31-year-old cook shouted for his brother and opened the door of their Lahaina rental home to thick smoke and intense heat.

“The fire was almost on top of us,” he said.

The two sprinted. And, running on for what felt like an eternity, a hellscape unfurled. Day turned to night as smoke blotted out the sun, occasionally bared as a red orb. Roads clogged with cars. People dove into the Pacific. At one point, the flames chased him as strong winds blew them down a mountainside. The air was so black he vomited.

“We ran and ran. We ran almost the whole night and into the next day because the fire didn’t stop,” Vasquez said.

The brothers kept running down the coast until they came upon a motorist who drove them to a shelter where they joined about 200 others in a gymnasium.

The restaurant Vasquez worked at was destroyed. He only managed to grab his passport, wallet, a few bottles of water and a can of sardines.

He arrived in the U.S. from Guatemala at the start of 2022. Now, his car and everything he worked for has been torched.

He isn’t sure if the roommates he and his brother lived with made it out. He wonders about the people they passed who were unable to run as they did. He doesn’t know where they will go next. They will look for work in whatever state or country that has jobs for them.

There seemed to be only one certainty for Vasquez.

“We’ll keep struggling,” he said.

___

Tracey Graham was due to spend her last week on Maui snorkeling with sea turtles, dining with friends, and reminiscing about the eight years she called the “beautiful, wonderful piece of paradise” home.

Instead, she fled the fires, is sleeping in a shelter and wondering what became of the places she loved.

“It’s scary,” says 61-year-old Graham. “It’s devastating — that’s the only word I keep coming back to.”

Graham, who was staying with a friend north of Lahaina, was about to take an afternoon nap Tuesday when she noticed the smell. She went outside, saw flames and smoke, and heard popping noises.

She fled with friends, grabbing her passport, her journal and a framed photo with a button that played a recording of her husband, Cole Wright, telling her how much he loved her.

He died of prostate cancer four months ago.

Authorities kept directing her and her friends to different points. Once she made it to the shelter set up at the Maui War Memorial, rumors of the devastation raged, with many unsure whether their homes and loved ones were safe. She hasn’t been able to reach one of her close friends.

“It’s disorienting,” she says. “You just don’t know what’s what.”

Graham is departing Saturday to start a new life in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. Her plan was already made after her husband’s death, but the tragedy of the wildfires cemented the need to leave.

“It’s just been too sad,” she says.

___

It wasn’t exactly how Cindy and Bob Curler envisioned their wedding night.

Unable to get back to their Lahaina hotel Tuesday as wildfires swallowed the town, their driver was forced to take them to the garage where he parks his limousine. The newlyweds shared a couch for the night, her in her strapless lace gown, him in his crisp blue suit.

Just hours earlier, the Pittsburgh couple had strolled Lahaina’s streets, passing the 150-year-old banyan tree and popping in quaint shops.

There were hiccups as they prepared for their ceremony, but nothing that alarmed them. The power had been knocked out at Lahaina Shores Beach Resort, where they were staying, and they could see flames in the mountains. Winds were “hellacious,” 46-year-old Bob said, but flames did not appear close.

The two heard no warnings, so they pressed forward with their elopement plans, driving south to a beach just past Wailea, where they exchanged vows under perfect blue skies. There was still no word of disaster, so they celebrated with a dinner at a nearby resort.

“We didn’t know that the town was burning,” Bob said.

Their driver tried to get them back to Lahaina, but roads were choked with traffic. Inching along, seeing fire spreading by the highway, they changed course, heading for the garage at 2 a.m.

It wasn’t until morning that they saw photos of Lahaina’s destruction and realized they were blessed to have escaped. Their hotel appears to have been spared the worst, but they haven’t been able to return. They know it’s nothing compared to the losses others are suffering.

“Yes it was our wedding day and night but that’s only one night for us,” Cindy said. “These people are impacted for the rest of their lives”

___

Associated Press writers Andrew Selsky in Bend, Oregon, and Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed to this report.

United States News

Two women hug as Muslim and Jewish women gather at an interfaith workshop on the Israeli-Palestinia...

Associated Press

In US, some Muslim-Jewish interfaith initiatives are strained by Israel-Hamas war

Shireen Quaizar was wracked with doubt. For years, the school psychologist has been active in Muslim-Jewish interfaith dialogue, but the Israel-Hamas war left her reeling. “What are we doing with talking to each other?” she recalled thinking, frustrated by a conversation about the exact number of Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike. “This doesn’t work.” […]

2 hours ago

FILE - Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves the Capitol after being expelled from the House of Repres...

Associated Press

Republicans had New Yorkers lead the way in expelling Santos. Will it help them keep the majority?

WASHINGTON (AP) — George Santos is gone from the House, but his name is certain to pop up in key congressional races across New York next year. Democrats are targeting five seats held by first-term Republicans and looking to associate them with their former colleague in the state’s congressional delegation as often as they can. […]

2 hours ago

This photo provided by Mattel shows a Barbie doll of Wilma Mankiller. Toy maker Mattel is honoring ...

Associated Press

Barbie doll honoring Cherokee Nation leader is met with mixed emotions

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An iconic chief of the Cherokee Nation, Wilma Mankiller, inspired countless Native American children as a powerful but humble leader who expanded early education and rural healthcare. Her reach is now broadening with a quintessential American honor: a Barbie doll in the late Mankiller’s likeness as part of toymaker Mattel’s “Inspiring […]

10 hours ago

Notes from students expressing support and sharing coping strategies paper a wall, as members of th...

Associated Press

Lacking counselors, US schools turn to the booming business of online therapy

Trouble with playground bullies started for Maria Ishoo’s daughter in elementary school. Girls ganged up, calling her “fat” and “ugly.” Boys tripped and pushed her. The California mother watched her typically bubbly second-grader retreat into her bedroom and spend afternoons curled up in bed. For Valerie Aguirre’s daughter in Hawaii, a spate of middle school […]

10 hours ago

Associated Press

Authorities identify suspect in killing of 3 homeless men in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles man already in custody in connection with another shooting investigation has been identified as the suspect in three recent killings of homeless men, police said Saturday. Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, was identified as the suspect in the three killings after authorities […]

16 hours ago

Associated Press

Report: Contaminants being removed from vacant Chicago lot where migrant housing is planned

CHICAGO (AP) — High levels of mercury and other contaminants are being removed from a vacant Chicago lot where a tent camp housing 2,000 migrants is planned, a report from a consultant hired by the city said. The Chicago Tribune reported that the nearly 800-page assessment by Terracon Consultants released Friday night said high levels […]

16 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Dierdre Woodruff

Interest rates may have peaked. Should you buy a CD, high-yield savings account, or a fixed annuity?

Interest rates are the highest they’ve been in decades, and it looks like the Fed has paused hikes. This may be the best time to lock in rates for long-term, low-risk financial products like fixed annuities.

Follow @KTAR923...

The 2023 Diamondbacks are a good example to count on the underdog

The Arizona Diamondbacks made the World Series as a surprise. That they made the playoffs at all, got past the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Wild Card round, swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS and won two road games in Philadelphia to close out a full seven-game NLCS went against every expectation. Now, […]

...

SCHWARTZ LASER EYE CENTER

Key dates for Arizona sports fans to look forward to this fall

Fall brings new beginnings in different ways for Arizona’s professional sports teams like the Cardinals and Coyotes.

As flames swallowed Maui, survivors made harrowing escapes