VAN BUREN, Ark. — A Van Buren family is home safely after going on a family vacation to Maui which turned out to be a very scary situation. They say their hearts go out to the people who lost everything.
A week after a blaze tore through historic Lahaina, many who survived have started moving into hundreds of hotel rooms set aside for displaced locals while donations of food, ice, water and other essentials have poured in.
“It was sad. A lot of devastation, a lot of death,” said Cathy Johnson.
Cathy and Daniel Johnson and other members of their family including their 8-month-old grandson went on what they thought would be a wonderful family vacation to Maui. They were there for two days before the fire broke out getting to go to a luau and swim with sea turtles.
“Right after it hit we didn't know how bad of trouble we were in— that we were actually, you know, surrounded by fire. That probably took us the next day,” she said.
Cathy says the electricity at their condo went out. Thankfully she says the complex had big grills and propane tanks, so they were all able to pull their resources to cook food until they ran out. Their condo was five minutes from where it all happened. Daniel says it was really scary once they realized what was going on.
“One of the worst things was our family and friends not knowing if we were ok. And we couldn't communicate. I don't think we were in a lot of danger where we were at, but we were close. We were just lucky to not be in the path of the fire,” said Daniel Johnson.
After several days of no electricity, they left their condo and their family slept outside the airport for two nights. They had to leave behind their things at the condo, thinking they would be coming right back, but they were able to go back for a short time before they flew home. Cathy says the man who managed the condo they rented heard the explosions.
“A lot of people literally ran for the lives, the winds were like 80 miles an hour. And they had no warning, which was the worst thing... And so they just took off running and they survived, but they lost two homes, all their cars, everything. And when we drove out, we saw a lot of that,” she said.
The Johnsons encourage people to help the people of Maui devastated by the fires by making donations.
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