Fires are still burning in Upcountry Maui, with the latest numbers showing the fires are about 85% contained. Like so many Maui communities, groups of volunteers in Kula have come together to fight the blazes and help their neighbors.
Next to Kula Lodge, a group of community members debrief after another long day of clearing brush, extinguishing flames, and handing out water, food and supplies to those in need. Overhead, a helicopter continues to drop water on hotspots in nearby gulches Friday evening.
“We’ve had many teams in the gulches with the fireman at times helping put out the flare-ups. I mean, there's a flare-up here every 30 minutes it seems like,” said Cody Lang, who was born and raised in Kula.
Every day since the fire started, he’s been volunteering alongside others at a community aid station they created.
“The hands that have come out, the love, the aloha, just the rallying, everyone has been incredible," added Lang. "It gives me chills I think about it. Every day we're here, it's been crazy, we've had hundreds of people come through here, just ready to work. We’ve put in hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of man hours of this point and probably millions of dollars worth of worth of work, all volunteered. And everyone's just here to help.”
About 1200 acres have burned in the Kula and Olinda areas, now identified as separate fires by the County of Maui. Nineteen homes have burned down in Upcountry Maui, and others are severely impacted by smoke and ash.
Volunteer Dominique Sajor said they’ve been handing out water, meals, canned food and paper goods so residents don’t need to wash dishes.
They’re also helping to spread an important message.
“We had some people that said they didn’t even know they weren’t allowed to use the water, and they’ve been showering in it and it’s been making their skin itch,” Sajor said.
Officials warn the water may contain contaminants including benzene and carcinogenic compounds, making it unsafe to drink and bathe in. Authorities haven’t yet given any timeline on how long until the water is usable.
Loren Lapow, who has helped lead the group, said the volunteer hub has been remarkable.
“I think the most impressive thing to me about all of this is the speed and efficiency that the community was able to respond to the ongoing significant need,” he said.
Kula resident Kyle Ellison, whose family had to evacuate their home, agrees.
“We're not an aid organization. We're not a nonprofit. We are just a bunch of neighbors and people taking care of each other," said Ellison.
"Organizing food donations for hundreds of people, multiple meals per day, to actively putting out hot spots and flare-ups to removing hundreds of tons of green waste from people's yards on donated chippers in donated dump trucks and with donated tools. The amount that's being accomplished up here is just unbelievable.”
