Ep #77: Maui Fires: What Maui Needs & How to Help

You are listening to the Overthinkers Guide to Joy episode 77. This is the one
where I am going to go a little bit rogue and talk about something that is a
current event. I normally do not do this on the podcast. I normally stick with
things very related to overthinking and ways in which I talk about problems that
come up in my coaching business and how I help clients and how I help people with
overthinking anxiety, depression and how to help people manage their minds.
But this week, I am doing a special episode in honor of the Maui Fires,
which for all of you who have been watching the news, you know that there was a
very, very serious set of brush fires on the island of Maui where I live and it
is an ongoing crisis. It is not just a natural disaster, it is a really very,
very serious issue on every level, on a human level, on a psychological level,
on a physical level. It is life, it is death, it is county and town and federal
and it is Something that I am actually in the middle of dealing with as a member
of a community. So I'm using my platform today to talk about what I know five days
into this crisis and I'm using it to update people so that they're in the know and
also as a thank you to all the people who have reached out who have asked are you
safe is your family safe and the answer Yes, I am and that is why I am able to
do this podcast today, but I think it is important for people to know that it is
much more than just what you might see on the news or read in the headlines. I
certainly don't have the broad perspective nor am I the one fighting this battle.
I am here as a community member to just share with you my experience and what I
know thus far. So, today's episode is just that, and thank you for listening.
This is a podcast for overthinkers, overdoers, and overachievers who are tired of
feeling over -anxious and just want to feel better. I'm your host certified life
coach, Jackie de Crinis.
Hey there and welcome back. So this is an unplanned episode in that it is not
outlined, it is not scripted, I do not have an interview, although I tried to get
an interview. But this is the episode that I'm doing on the heels of the very,
very, very tragic Maui Fires, which broke out very, very early in the morning,
Tuesday, August 8th. And right now I'm recording this on Sunday afternoon,
August 13th. And let me just say, because we're only five and a half days into
this, things may change again. I mean, by the time I finish recording this, there
may be a lot more information or news or just new developments. So I apologize in
advance for it by the time this airs in a few days. And if you're listening to
this, even after it goes live, maybe a lot of this information will be obsolete or
irrelevant. But I just thought it was important for my Maui community and my friends
on the mainland and my clients and for all of you who are watching the news and
wondering what's happening, I just wanna give you the up -to -date situation. So for
those of you who are on my newsletter or follow me on Instagram or Facebook or
watching the national news, you heard that it four in the morning on Tuesday,
October 8th. My particular subdivision where I live, Upcountry in Maui,
was evacuated. We had firemen and police knocking on every door saying, "You need to
get out. There is a brush fire and it's coming towards your homes." We had no
warning. We had no knowledge. we live kind of down a long driveway so we can't see
our neighbors and it was pitch black and I've actually never been through this kind
of fire drill so I've been through a lot of hurricane and tsunami warnings but not
fire so we grabbed our dog and our daughter and we all got in our individual cars
and packed up whatever we could grab right our wallets our identifications.
I had, for whatever reason, the presence of mind to grab my passport and a change
of clothing and some dog food and a jacket because I wasn't sure if it was hot or
cold outside. I wasn't sure where we were going. I didn't know if there was going
to be rain or if it was going to be hot. And I actually didn't know how long
we'd be gone. So typically in tsunami warnings kind of ends after a few hours.
They're pretty well timed and, gratefully, for the 15 years I've lived on Maui,
every time we've had a tsunami warning, it was not too catastrophic. Sometimes a
little water came into the bay, but nothing that was too disruptive. That's not to
say people haven't had very big disruptions due to storms with mudslides and things
like that. We have certainly had our share of brush fires, but nothing that has
come this close to certainly our residential property. So we packed up our cars and
even the police on our street were a little confused as to where to go. I think
because everybody was shocked that there was no warning, this was all the result of
gale force winds, hurricane winds that were coming quite south of us with no rain.
So usually when we get hurricane warnings, we have wind and rain. And obviously if
there's rain, there's less chance of brush fires, so that's never been a concern
before. But this time we had just wind, extremely warm weather, it's August,
very dry conditions, a lot of brush, and then of course I live on the mountain
where there's a lot of forests and ranches and gullies and bulges and a lot of
overgrown shrubbery. So it's kind of a little bit of a tinderbox. And with high
winds and power lines, you know, being downed due to the high wind, pretty much
anything could happen. So the fire started to actually up the mountain from me in a
friend of mine's neighborhood. And then the firemen were basically going door to door
to alert us. So when we went down the hill towards the beach, we realized there
were no fires at that time and fortunately my brother was here and he lives in a
different part of the island and so we went and woke him up saying there's a fire
in our neighborhood can we come hang out at your house and again when I say hang
out we just didn't know how long we would be evacuated we didn't know if it was
for a day or two we didn't know if our house would burn to the ground we just
really had no idea of anything. It's the middle of the night, it's dark. So we
showed up at his house where the weather was beautiful and the winds weren't even
bad and there were certainly no fires and he lives right near the ocean. So it was
kind of a glorious day in paradise, which was very surreal having been woken up
with a fire drill. I'm shoving my dog into a carrier so that he didn't get loose
and grabbing what I thought was important. And then of course, in your brain,
you start overthinking, I should have grabbed a photo album. Thankfully, I had the
presence of mind to take my laptop, which has a lot of my digital photos and
certainly a lot of information on it. But I didn't think to bring two days of
clothing. My brother had food in his house and markets were open. So that was not
an issue, although it could have been, again, had we not known that his that his
neighborhood may have been in danger, but it was not. So very generously and very
luxuriously, we stayed at his condo for the day and the evening and watched the
news like hawks were following. And again, to the degree that there was news because
with the electrical disruptions, like we had no power at our house, so it was pitch
black and many cell towers were down. And we had heard that Lahaina, which is the
other side of the island from where I live, as the crow flies, it's like maybe 30
miles. And from my brother's house, maybe it's 20 miles. It's not a linear path,
but it's another resort town. And an old town, it's the former capital of the state
of Hawaii. It was the old whaling village. It's 150 years old.
Lahaina Luna is the oldest school, I believe west of the Rockies. It used to be a
boarding school. It's got a lot, a lot of history. So we had heard Lahaina was on
fire too, as well as the mountains, which is where we were upcountry. But we had
heard by 10 o 'clock that Lahaina was contained, which is a very, very good thing
because Lahaina is kind of one road in and one road out. So we were very relieved
to hear that Lahaina was contained by maybe 10 a .m. We had no news about our
house, although I was on multiple text chains with different friends and from
different neighborhoods and they're like, "We're okay. We're being told we might have
to evacuate, but we don't have to evacuate yet." But with Lahaina contained, we
figured that the firefighters and the police could focus on upcountry, which is a
little trickier because, again, we're in side and there's forests and pastures and
farms and a lot of gulches, which has a lot of dry brush, which what they call
basically fuel for a fire, right? So that's anything from a tree to tall grass to
shrubs to what have you. And because it's August and because it's dry and because
there were high winds, those gulches can become inflamed very quickly. That fire can
travel very quickly and then fire travels uphill and then it can go into these
subdivisions of homes, not to mention the farm animals and everything else. So I'm
trying to follow along on the text chains, and then we're trying to watch news,
although there's almost no news at this point. I mean, there's a little bit of
local news. So we're kind of getting news piecemeal, a lot of social media news,
people taking videos of their hillsides or their backyards and trying to text each
other and what have you. And then later in the afternoon, we got news that Lahaina
was on fire again. So again, that's the Whaler Village old capital,
150 year old tourist town, lots of locals, lots of tourists,
lots of restaurants and shops and businesses, very densely populated and right on the
water and that was incredibly unnerving. I texted a police woman friend of mine who
is stationed in Lahaina. She got back to me and she said, "It's burning. "We are
about to lose the town." And then I didn't hear from her for hours. Meanwhile, up
country, I'm getting some reports that maybe some of the fires were out, maybe it
was safe to return home. We didn't know, very smoky, very ashy, very unpredictable
with the 40, 60, 80 mile an hour winds, depending on where you were. So we slept
at my brother's, which was quite comfortable and very grateful, running water,
electricity, even air conditioning in this really hot summer night, but a lot of
uncertainty with many parts of the island burning. So when we woke up in the
morning, Lahina was basically gone. it burnt to the ground and it burnt what is
known, which you've now, if you've listened to the news, very famous Front Street,
which is what had all the restaurants and shops and even nightclubs and things like
that and the fire just blew through and it blew through homes that were basically
shacks and it blew through homes that were multi -million dollar properties and it
blew through art galleries and jewelry stores, and people were jumping off the pier,
the dock, the walkway in Front Street to get into the ocean to get away from the
fire. And it was pandemonium, and it was pandemonium because there was smoke
everywhere, ash everywhere, and no one really knew which road to take out.
There's a bypass road, and then there's a main road, and the main road ended up
being a fire trap and a lot of people passed away in their cars, passed away in
their homes. They just didn't even know. They said there were 30 people that died
initially and as of today, they are estimating it's with a thousand people missing
that it still could be in the hundreds, if not all thousand that are missing. So
we can't even go over there as locals, only emergency vehicles and only people from
the Red Cross and Fire Police, et cetera, are permitted over there.
People have been chartering boats to try and bring in supplies from one port to the
other. People have been flying small planes from our main airport to the West Side
Airport to bring in much needed supplies and they need everything from ice to water,
propane, gas stoves, sleeping bags, pillows. People lost everything.
I mean, it was as if someone dropped a bomb on Lahaina. That's the level of
destruction that occurred, and it happened all in a few hours. So because they had
no electricity and no water and no cell towers, many, many people couldn't
communicate with loved ones. So people were basically trapped there or trapped
elsewhere and couldn't get home. And they didn't know if their loved ones were alive
and many of them still don't. So meanwhile, we returned home. We didn't have
electricity. My sister -in -law, who lives about a couple miles up the road, she
didn't have water. So everybody had kind of their own situation. And I had other
friends in other neighborhoods where it was drizzling, so it was raining. They had
water, they had power, they had no evacuations, they had no fires, they had no
smoke. And God bless them for that. And thankfully, it wasn't the entire island,
but it was a huge, huge, huge portion. So we returned home and we started sweeping
and mopping. We could not vacuum because there was no electricity. And then when it
was nightfall, we went back to my brother's house just to get out of the darkness
and out of the smoke and then came back the next day when power was restored,
thankfully, and at least in our neighborhood. And what was presumed to be the fires
were to be out. We felt relatively safe and we could start packing up, you know,
non -perishables for the community centers where they were housing people who were
displaced from the fires. And the community came together beautifully.
I mean, it was extraordinary to go to the main shelter downtown and see how they
had organized volunteers, red cross workers, Maui Food Bank, little bit of military.
I don't know if that was local or national guard. We keep hearing national guards
coming, although I haven't seen them. And then, of course, a few police and fire.
And so people have donation lines. People have volunteer lines where they separate
out the donations, then there are people on cots trying to get some rest, trying to
get some medical treatment for those who escaped, and then those shelters are all
over the island. So they have them in Lahaina, they have them in what's called
Wailuku and Kahalui and Kihei and all over.
So we kind of thought everything was okay or okay -ish.
We didn't think Lahaina was okay. We knew that a thousand people, you know, were
missing or dead. We knew that 2 ,700 structures were destroyed. We knew that the up
-country fires lost a lot of homes and a lot of forest land. But we knew the
community was coming together and it was really, really beautiful. And people were
doing their best to communicate however they could. Social a text,
phone, if it was available, people driving, you know, wherever they could, helping
people pick up, opening their homes. And just in the last 24 hours, even though we
were the original subdivision to be evacuated and actually the first to come home,
it turns out that we have hotspots in the Gulch that surrounds our subdivision and
the subdivision of 200 homes. And we're just one of dozens of these developments
where people built, you know, suburban homes near, next to, you know,
forests or pastures or what have you. And there's hotspots in these gulches and
there's just simply not enough manpower to man them all night. And at night is the
problem because that's when the winds come down from the volcano and the mountain
and kind of stir up the embers. And so we had one neighbor who's been firefighting.
I mean, with a shovel and jugs of water and masks, and he and the neighbor have
been basically putting out fires by hand with everything from jugs of water and fire
extinguishers. And then he called me for help yesterday and said, we need more help,
you know, however we can get it, fire, police, volunteers, city council, role,
you know, FEMA, what have you, but there's so many hot spots. And as one neighbor
said, the Calvary is not coming. So my neighborhood, who I know, maybe five,
six, seven, eight, nine people out of the 200, I just started texting people in a
chain and just saying, "Hey guys, we need to be vigilant. We need to watch this
perimeter, whether you get in the car and go up to the highway and look from below
or whether you have access to the Gulch, we just need to be aware of these hot
spots. We need to call 911 or we need to put them out ourselves. And we need to
let our council people know that we need probably federal aid. We need boots on the
ground, National Guard or FEMA or Red Cross or someone watching these hot spots.
Because while Lahaina is where the devastation was and where all the national news
is and where absolutely the dollars need to go. We've got a situation up here with,
you know, 10 or 20 ,000 people who have homes in these mountains who also need
help. We don't need monetary help. We actually need boots on the ground at the
ready to put out these fires if these hotspots or winds should pick up again. And
there's a rumor that there's another hurricane coming, which may or may not have
water with it. It could just be the wins again, which would be obviously
devastating. So anyway, I am recording this podcast like from my gut.
I don't have an agenda here. I don't have, unfortunately, don't have a beautiful
message to share. I really am using this as a platform to get the word out that
Maui is in trouble. We don't need you to come to Maui, eventually we do.
This is going to be a very, very, very long process. The cleanup is going to be a
long process. These fires getting put out is going to be a long process. Paying
homage to those that have lost loved ones and businesses and history.
And so the island needs boots on the ground and the island needs money. And anytime
there's a disaster, whether it's 9 /11, Hurricane Katrina, the horrible tornadoes that
hit the Midwest, the hurricanes that have hit Florida and New York, the wildfires in
Canada, it goes on and on and on. Natural disasters are always around the world,
and we just happen to have had the most fatalities of any brush fire in 100 -year
history of the United States. That's kind of insane for a population of only 120
,000 people. So, we have a lot of work ahead of us and when the camera crews
leave, which they will in a few days, we need the funds. We need Maui Food Bank,
Maui Animal Shelter. There's a foundation called Hawaii Community Foundation which is
going under the subheading of Maui Strong which has all the reputable charities on
the island that are gonna get people what they need because there are a lot of
animals displaced. There are babies without formula. There are diabetics without
insulin. There's so many people who have stepped up to help. There's a rumor,
and I believe it's true, that Jeff Bezos, who obviously is the primary owner of
Amazon, donated $100 million to a fund. I know Kai Lenny,
who was one of the great surfers of the world, who lives on Island and was raised
here. He donated money to get insulin shipped in from the Big Island to Maui for
the people in La Jolla who needed insulin. Like I said, the American Red Cross is
here, but we just need so much more. So this was not intended to be a charity
podcast. This was just really to give you an update because I have had hundreds of
people reach out to me through my community, between social media text and my
coaching community to say, "How can I help?" And while I don't currently need the
help, my family and I at the moment are safe and back in our homes and very
blessed to have just had dirt and ash and broken shrubbery and a couple of days of
cleanup. We are hopeful that these hotspots in our neighborhood will stay dormant and
that we don't have another evacuation and crisis. But for everyone else who has
suffered from these terrible fires. If you want to do something, I would say donate
to American Red Cross, Maui Food Bank, Maui Humane Society, or Maui Strong,
a Hawaii community foundation that was set up. People need it. The island needs it.
And for now, I will keep you posted on my Instagram. That's at Jackie DeCranis, J
-A -C K -I -E -D -E -C -R -I -N -I -S, or my Facebook page, Jackie DeCranis,
Life Coach. And I thank you all so, so,
so much for the enormous good wishes, good vibes, prayers,
reaching out to find out if my family is okay, and we are, and we thank you for
all that kindness and kind words. And so many of you checked in with me on the
daily. How is it today? How is your home? How is your daughter? How is your dog?
How is your husband? How is your brother? And sister -in -laws, thank you. Thank you
for all of that love. And I feel it, and I love you all for reaching out.
And just know that as of Sunday, August 13th,
we are safe, but so many others are not. So please, please,
please, whatever you can do to get us those funds, get the island, those funds and
the help that these reputable, charitable organizations can do to help those who
truly are in need. I so appreciate it. So thank you Mahalo and Aloha and bye for
now. Thank you for listening to this episode of the Overthinker's Guide to Joy.
If you're enjoying these episodes, please subscribe or follow this podcast so you can
always be in the know when the next episode drops. If you would like to learn more
about working with me as a coach, you can connect with me through my website at jackiedecrinis.com.