Kula resident Judy McCorkle returned to her home two days after the Aug. 8 wildfires on Maui. She inspected her property for damages until she felt a burning sensation.
“The bottom of both feet were completely burned,” McCorkle said. “And then the sand came up over my feet, so there were blisters on the top of my feet, and all of my toes were reversed.”
The 77-year-old was immediately transported to Straub Medical Center on Oʻahu, which has cared for nine burn victims so far from the Maui fires. Their injuries range from 10% to 70% of their bodies, from second to third-degree burns.
McCorkle, who suffered second-degree burns, was discharged last week and spoke with reporters about the phenomenon.
What caused McCorkle to sustain burn injuries if it wasn’t from active flames? A fire expert says she stepped on a hotspot.
Robert “Bobby” Lee, president of the Hawaiʻi Firefighters Association, said hotspots are pockets of smoldering wood or ash burning for a few days underground. He added if a fire burned a dead tree, the roots would continue to burn for up to a couple of days, depending on how large its roots are.
“It can smolder until the fire comes back up, and it becomes a hotspot,” Lee said. “It’s like stepping into an imu (underground oven). So you step on it, you can sink into this hot pocket of smoldering wood.”
McCorkle said she didn’t lose her house to the wildfires, but she warned the public that hotspots are dangerous, adding that many people in the burn unit were injured after the fire by going into places that were still burning.
“I felt very foolish because it was like, ‘How could I do this? I survived the fire, our house is OK, and I hurt myself badly,’” McCorkle said.
Lee said hotspot burns are rare and sometimes visible on the surface, while others are not.
“If you’re walking into a burned area, you want to pay attention to the ground,” Lee said. “You want to pay attention and look for any little bit of smoke and a little bit of glow. If you see a pile of ash by itself, you want to stay away from that.”
Straub Medical Center is the only burn unit in the Pacific region. McCorkle said she saw a need for more equipment, so she created a program for people to donate to the burn unit.
So far, more than $77,000 has been raised in more than two weeks.
To donate, click here.
