{"id":2001271,"date":"2023-08-15T13:11:04","date_gmt":"2023-08-15T17:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/they-were-alone-in-a-fight-to-survive-maui-residents-had-moments-to-make-life-or-death-choices\/"},"modified":"2023-08-15T13:13:35","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T17:13:35","slug":"they-were-alone-in-a-fight-to-survive-maui-residents-had-moments-to-make-life-or-death-choices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/they-were-alone-in-a-fight-to-survive-maui-residents-had-moments-to-make-life-or-death-choices\/","title":{"rendered":"Maui residents faced a life-or-death battle, fighting alone for survival with limited time to make crucial decisions."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">34<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fthey-were-alone-in-a-fight-to-survive-maui-residents-had-moments-to-make-life-or-death-choices%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2001271&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Surviving the Inferno: Tales from the Lahaina Wildfire<\/h2>\n<p>LAHAINA, Hawaii\u2014The\u200b smoke was starting to \u200bblot\u2062 out the\u200b sun. Winds were howling, and \u200dheat \u2062bore down as flames licked the trees on the \u200dhorizon. The power had been\u200d out all day,\u200d so Mike Cicchino\u2063 thought he\u2019d drive to the hardware\u200b store \u2063for a generator. He turned off his street, and in an instant, his Lahaina neighborhood\u200b seemed to\u2064 spiral into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/compare-and-contrast-democrat-dc-war-zone-vs-the-hunger-games-video\/\" title=\"Compare and Contrast: Democrat DC War Zone vs. The Hunger Games (VIDEO)\">war zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWhen I turned that corner, I see \u200dpandemonium,\u201d\u200d he said. \u201cI\u200c see people running and grabbing their babies and screaming\u2064 and jumping in their cars.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It was around \u200c3:30 \u200dp.m. \u200bTuesday when Mr.\u200d Cicchino\u2062 and his neighbors began a desperate fight \u2063for their lives. They had just\u2062 moments\u2062 to make\u200d decisions that\u2062 would determine whether \u2064they lived or died \u200cin \u2062a race against \u2062the flames\u2014a harrowing, \u2063narrow window of time in one of the most horrifying and \u2064<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/they-were-alone-in-a-fight-to-survive-maui-residents-had-moments-to-make-life-or-death-choices\/\" title=\"Maui residents faced a life-or-death battle, fighting alone for survival with limited time to make crucial decisions.\">lethal natural disasters<\/a> the country has seen in years.<\/p>\n<h3>On Their Own<\/h3>\n<p>There \u200dwere no sirens, no one with bullhorns,\u200b no one to tell anyone what to do: They were on their own, with their families\u2064 and\u200d neighbors, to choose whether to stay or \u2064to run, and where to run to\u2014through smoke so thick it blinded them, flames closing in from every direction, cars \u200cexploding, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/tornado-watch-in-effect-for-southeast-thunderstorms-to-hit-near-coast\/\" title=\"Tornado watch in effect for Southeast, thunderstorms to hit near coast\">toppled power lines<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-england-areas-under-flood-watches-as-tropical-storm-elsa-continues-moving-northeast\/\" title=\"New England areas under flood watches as Tropical Storm Elsa continues moving northeast\">uprooted trees<\/a>, fire whipping through the \u2063wind and raining down.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities have confirmed \u2064that nearly 100\u2064 people\u2062 died\u2014already making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more \u200dthan a century\u2014and they expect that number to rise.<\/p>\n<p>Just 10 minutes \u2062before Mr. Cicchino made that turn away from his street, Maui fire\u200c officials had issued an ominous warning. The Lahaina brush fire had sparked \u200dthat morning, but authorities reported it was contained. Now, officials \u200dsaid, erratic wind, challenging terrain, and flying \u200dembers made it hard to predict the fire\u2019s path and speed. It could be a mile away, Fire\u200d Assistant Chief Jeff Giesea said,\u2063 \u201cbut in a minute or two, it can be \u2064at your house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Cicchino did a U-turn, ran into his house and told his wife they\u2063 needed to leave:\u2063 \u201cWe need \u2062to go! We need to get out of here now!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They ran to\u2062 the car with five dogs\u200d and called the police, and a dispatcher said to follow the traffic. Access \u200bto the main highway\u2014the only road leading in and out of Lahaina\u2014was cut off by barricades set up by authorities. The roadblocks forced Mr. Cicchino and the line of \u2062cars onto Front \u2062Street.<\/p>\n<p>A few blocks away, Kehau Kaauwai said the wind \u2062was\u2063 so intense it tore the roof from\u200b her\u200c neighbor\u2019s home. It felt like a tornado after the tornado was slicing \u200cdown her street.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt roared,\u201d she said. \u201cIt sounded like \u2063an airplane landing on our street.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Within moments, she said,\u200c the smoke that had been blocks away suddenly engulfed them. It \u200ddarkened from gray to black, day \u200bseemed \u200cto\u200d turn to night.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>People watch as smoke and flames fill the air \u200cfrom raging wildfires \u200don Front Street in downtown Lahaina, Maui, \u200cHawaii on Aug. 8, 2023. (Alan \u2062Dickar via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ms. \u2064Kaauwai couldn\u2019t even see buildings anymore. \u2062Something \u2062was exploding; it sounded like fireworks. She ran \u200binside. \u2064She couldn\u2019t think\u2014she just grabbed\u2062 her dog and some clothes, never imagining she would not see her\u2062 house or anything in it ever again.<\/p>\n<p>Around 4\u2064 p.m., she got into her car. Traffic crawled, people were dragging \u200buprooted trees out of the road with their bare hands. Debris whipped in the wind and banged on \u2064the \u200bcar. Danger seemed to\u2063 come from every direction.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Kaauwai would have driven to Front Street, but a stranger walking by told her \u200dto go the other way. She wishes now \u2062she could thank him, because \u2062he might have saved her life.<\/p>\n<p>On gridlocked Front Street, \u200dpeople were panicking, crying, screaming, honking.<\/p>\n<p>Bill Wyland grabbed his computer, passport, and Social Security card and stuffed\u200b them into a backpack.\u200d He \u200dgot on his\u200d Harley Davidson and drove on the sidewalk.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cI could feel the heat \u2064burning in my back. I could pretty much \u200dfeel the hair\u200c is burning \u2063off the back of my neck,\u201d said \u200dMr. Wyland,\u2062 who owns an\u200b art gallery on \u2062the street.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>At one\u200c point, \u2062he passed \u2062a man on a bicycle madly pedaling for his life. Some were abandoning cars and fleeing on foot. The smoke was \u2063so thick, so toxic, some said they\u2063 vomited.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s something you\u2019d see in a \u2018Twilight Zone\u2019 horror movie or \u200dsomething,\u201d Mr. Wyland said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The\u2062 street was\u2064 so jammed, he thinks if he\u2019d taken his car instead, he would\u2064 have died or been forced into the ocean. The people sitting in \u2064their cars \u2064saw black smoke ahead.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re all driving into a death trap,\u201d Mr. Cicchino thought. He told his \u2063wife: \u201cWe need to jump out of this \u200ccar, abandon the car, \u2062and we need to run\u200d for \u2064our\u2063 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>They got \u200cthe dogs out. But it was impossible to know \u2063which way to run.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cBehind us, straight ahead, beside us, everywhere was on fire,\u201d Mr. Cicchino said. It had been less than 15 minutes since he left his \u2063house, and he thought it was the \u2062end. He called his mother,\u200d his brother, his daughter to tell them he loved them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Mike Cicchino holding \u200dhis dog Raina (R), his wife Andreza Cicchino (L),\u200b and his mother Susan\u200d Ramos pose \u200bfor a picture as \u200dthey were reunited \u200dat shelter in Maui, Hawaii in Aug. 9, 2023. (Courtesy of Mike Cicchino via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>The black smoke\u2063 was \u200dso \u2064thick they\u2062 could see only the white dogs, not the three dark \u2064ones, \u2062and they lost them.<\/p>\n<p>Propane tanks from a catering van exploded.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt was like\u2062 a war,\u201d Mr. \u200cCicchino said.\u2062 They \u200ccould tell how close the fire was coming\u200b based on how far away \u2063the cars sounded \u2063when they\u200d erupted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe cars sounded like\u200c bombs going\u200b off,\u201d Donnie Roxx said. \u201cIt was\u2063 dark, it \u200bwas 4 o\u2019clock \u200cin the afternoon, and it looked like midnight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>A seawall separates the town from the ocean, \u200band \u200cMr. Roxx realized he and \u2064his \u200cneighbors were confronting a horrific decision: stay \u2064on burning land or go to the water. The sea was churning and treacherous even for strong swimmers, as the wind\u2062 kicked up the waves.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cDo you want to \u200bget burned or take your chances and drown?\u201d he asked\u2062 himself. He jumped over\u2064 the wall.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>So did dozens of others, including\u00a0Mr. Cicchino\u2064 and his wife.<\/p>\n<p>Others came to realize they needed to flee\u2014but not because officials \u2062told them. Some heard from friends and neighbors, others just had a feeling.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThere was no warning. There was absolutely none,\u201d \u2063said Lynn Robinson. \u201cNobody came around. We didn\u2019t see \u2062a fire truck or anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>She left her apartment near Front Street around 4:30. About a mile away, Lana Vierra\u2019s boyfriend stopped by her home and\u200d said \u200che\u2019d seen the fire raging toward them.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cHe told me straight,\u200d \u2018People are going to die in this town; you gotta get out,\u2019\u201d she \u2064recalled. So she did.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Anne Landon was chatting with others in her senior apartment complex. She said she felt a sudden blast of hot air that must have been more than 100 degrees. She ran to her unit\u2064 and\u200c grabbed her purse and her 15-pound dog, La Vida.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s time to get out!\u200d Let\u2019s get\u2063 out!\u201d she shouted to\u2062 neighbors as she rushed to\u200c her car.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>She\u2019d already packed a\u200c rolling duffle bag in her \u2063car, just\u200d in case. She didn\u2019t know where to go.\u2064 She stopped and asked an\u200c officer, who didn\u2019t know what to\u200d tell her, except \u2063to wish her luck.<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Wildfire wreckage is seen in Lahaina, Hawaii, \u2064on Aug. \u200b10, 2023. (Rick Bowmer\/AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>Debris was\u2064 flying through the air. She\u2063 ran into\u200b people\u2063 she barely knew but recognized. They told her to come with them to their home. \u200dThey got\u2063 stuck in a dead stop in the traffic, so they abandoned the car. She put the dog on\u200b top \u200cof her rolling suitcase and dragged it down Front Street, to the beach.<\/p>\n<p>Downtown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LAHAINA, Hawaii\u2014As smoke darkened the sky, fierce winds and scorching heat fueled the approaching flames. With no electricity, Mike Cicchino ventured to the hardware store for a generator. Suddenly, as he veered off his street, his world changed in an instant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":2001272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2001271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2001271"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2001271\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2001272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2001271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2001271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2001271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}