Maui's Crater Road fire on the slopes of Haleakalā that ignited on July 10 is now 80% contained after burning nearly 600 acres. Maui Fire and state Department of Land and Natural Resources personnel continue to monitor it closely and control hot spots.
Kari McCarthy had her bags packed as Upper Kula residents were told to be ready for evacuation a week and a half ago. She and her elderly mother lost their home to the fire almost a year ago and now live in a small building on the same property. Last August's wildfire burned 19 homes in her community.
McCarthy knew the drill.
“We all have a little PTSD of looking at a fire on the mountain that's right above us, and knowing that the winds blow downhill on Haleakalā," she said. "So it was nerve-wracking for sure.”
McCarthy has a good view of the situation.
“We can see the whole thing from our house now, just because so many trees have burned so the choppers have been nonstop. Except for nighttime, they're going constantly and working," she explained. "You can tell that there's a heroic effort being made to get the fire out.”
Donna Waters was also on high alert.
“We were on the notice to possibly evacuate. The fire was above us. We're at 3,200 feet, [and the fire] was at 7,000 feet," she said. "And I was just talking to my neighbors that my partner and I could not believe we did not get any phone alert notifications.”
Both Waters and McCarthy said despite the emergency advisory for their area, they received no text alerts.
“Well, it turned out that Maui Emergency Management Agency, you have to go to their website and sign up for their alerts," Waters explained. "I didn't know that, and I'm not a stupid person. I've been pretty tuned in, especially since the last fire. But we did not know you physically have to go to their website and sign up to receive their alerts.”
After signing up, McCarthy got what she described as notices lacking helpful detail.
“It's just frustrating to feel like we're not getting super up-to-date, accurate information,” she said. “Their alerts were wonderful, but it would be more helpful to know what elevation is the fire, what's the wind direction.”
Both residents also said police went door to door in lower Kula neighborhoods that weren’t part of the evacuation advisories, yet never came to their areas of Upper Kula that were in the potential evacuation zone.
“I just feel like communication is just not good enough, especially in a supercharged and scary environment,” McCarthy said.
For Waters, the experience brought it all back.
“It just really hits home. And second time around is almost as traumatic as the first time,” she said.
Though they can relax a bit now that the fire is more contained, Upper Kula residents say they’ll be on alert for a while, as they remember last year’s fire burning in tree roots underground and flaring up for months.
