A group of Lāhainā barbers are giving back to the community by offering free haircuts to those impacted by the Aug. 8 wildfires.
Bryan Aguiran, Robert Campos and Edrian Sarian grew up in West Maui's historic town.
The Lāhainā barbers, including Oʻahu resident Ally Quijano, clipped hair for more than 50 people at Saturday's resource fair.
"Just a simple haircut can cheer up a person," Aguiran said. "Having to talk story with that person and making them feel good about themselves."
It's been nearly two months since the inferno blazed through Lāhainā, killing at least 97 people. The governor recently announced that the state is trying to transition more than 7,400 displaced people from hotels into long-term housing.
Aguiran and Sarian lost their homes to the inferno, but Campos' home remains standing.
Campos said he has survivor's guilt and wished he could've done more to help people the day of the fire.
"But now I'm helping out the community in some sort of way," Campos said. "It makes me feel a lot better about myself. I'm making sure that I stay busy and help out where I can."
At the resource fair, barbers in Hawaiʻi have donated professional tools for haircuts. Some clients had hair growing almost to their collarbones.
It's the first haircut that Lāhainā resident Sherwin Gutierrez received since the fire.
"It feels awesome," he said.
Gutierrez lost his home to the fire and currently lives in Paiea. He said he's still searching for his 10 cats.
The barbers said their clients have been feeling relief from getting a haircut, but there's still uncertainty of when they can return to their homes in Lāhainā.
"Nobody's really thinking about getting a haircut, especially at times like this," he continued. "Just knowing that you can hang out, sit down, relax and you're getting groomed up, that's always a good feeling in everybody's hearts," he said.
Some clients have had mixed feelings about Lāhainā reopening to visitors on Oct. 8.
Sarian, who now lives in Wailuku, said he understands why the state wants to reopen to visitors but feels it's too soon.
In the meantime, the Lāhainā barbers will be cutting hair for impacted residents as they wait to see what the future holds.
