Tragedy on Maui

Tragedy on Maui by Dr. Jim Denison Hawaiians jumped into the ocean to escape “apocalyptic” wildfires “Everything is gone, every single one of our family homes. The entire Lahaina Town and the entire subdivision of Lahaina—gone.” This is how Jordan Saribay described the wildfires that engulfed his hometown on the island of Maui this week. People were diving into the sea to escape the inferno; one resident called the scene “apocalyptic.” This tragedy is especially painful for my wife and me since we were privileged to visit Maui in June. We spent an entire day in Lahaina, one of the most scenic and historic places we’ve ever been. Once the royal capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, the town became a whaling village in the mid-nineteenth century. Herman Melville was one of the sailors who docked there. The village is on the National Register of Historic Places, with fifty-five acres set aside as historic districts. Maui’s oldest living banyan tree spreads across an entire park, just one of the town’s amazing sites. Now Hawaiian Gov. Josh Green estimates that “upwards of 1,700 buildings” were destroyed by the wildfires. The death toll stood at fifty-five as of last night as firefighting efforts are continuing. The full extent of the devastation may not be known for weeks or months, but it is clear that Lahaina is gone. As Saribay fled what “looked like a war zone,” he wondered what would be left to go back to. “Just praying that a miracle happens,” he said.