{"id":2021577,"date":"2023-09-04T16:42:02","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T20:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-maui-fires-defying-police-blockades-proved-life-saving\/"},"modified":"2023-09-04T16:44:47","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T20:44:47","slug":"in-maui-fires-defying-police-blockades-proved-life-saving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-maui-fires-defying-police-blockades-proved-life-saving\/","title":{"rendered":"Defying Police Blockades in Maui Fires Saved Lives."},"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\">16<\/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%2Fin-maui-fires-defying-police-blockades-proved-life-saving%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=2021577&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\u2064 the Lahaina Wildfire:\u2063 A Story of Courage \u200band Chaos<\/h2>\n<p>Christy Albinson still has nightmares. The nightmares\u2064 of children are the worst, she says, nearly a month after\u2063 the \u2063tragic Lahaina wildfire in West Maui.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been\u2063 traumatized. \u200dMy dreams have been pretty whacko. They&#8217;re horrible\u2014children \u2062buried in\u2064 the sand. \u2064I&#8217;m spooked,&#8221; Ms.\u2064 Albinson, 47, said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And when the panic \u2063attacks strike without warning, it&#8217;s \u2063all she can do to remain calm.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes,\u2062 the question crosses her mind: Why did she survive when\u2062 so\u2064 many others died?<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s\u2064 not so much survivor&#8217;s\u2062 guilt as\u200b it\u200b is a \u2063simmering anger\u2014a feeling that the outcome could have been different for so many if <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/governors-in-northeast-states-battered-by-ida-take-emergency-action\/\" title=\"Governors in Northeast states battered by Ida take emergency action\">emergency management officials<\/a> had responded differently.<\/p>\n<p>All Ms. Albinson knows is\u2062 that people who stayed in their vehicles in traffic perished in \u200cthe smoke and flames.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Christy Albinson (L), with her daughter Shelby Thomson, barely escaped with her\u2064 life during the tragic Lahaina wildfire\u200b on Aug.\u2062 8, 2023. \u200b(Courtesy Shelby Thomson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;They \u200bwere driving to their deaths, basically. I \u200dacknowledged I was in control \u200bof my choices and \u2063needed to not listen\u200b to the police,&#8221; Ms. Albinson told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I recognized I would have \u200dto\u2064 go around the\u200c barriers and do what it took because this was my \u2064life. I have \u200bgrandchildren;\u200b I needed to get to my family.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Several other Lahaina \u2063residents and workers told The Epoch Times\u200b that they survived only by driving around or through the\u200b police roadblocks,\u200d acknowledging the police\u200d were\u200d just &#8220;following orders.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Common\u200d sense,&#8221; said Grale, a West Maui resident who was working at\u200c a gated community in Lahaina on the day of the \u2064fire.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Me? \u200bI&#8217;m in panic mode. I&#8217;m getting the \u2062heck out of here. Survival mode. Honestly, I \u200ccouldn&#8217;t believe how many cars on Front Street just \u2064burned.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Lahaina fire burned 2,170 acres and more than\u200c 2,000 homes \u200cand buildings\u2064 in this\u2062 historic coastal community with \u200ba\u200d population of 13,120.<\/p>\n<p>The scenic oceanside Front\u2063 Street\u2062 serves as \u2062the town&#8217;s main street and connector to the \u200bLahaina\u200d highway bypass to\u200d and from the community.<\/p>\n<h3>Multiple Fires<\/h3>\n<p>Officials believe the first fire \u2062began in the\u2062 brush around\u2062 Lahaina\u2062 after midnight \u2062on Aug. 8, causing sporadic power outages and two other large fires inland.<\/p>\n<p>By 10 a.m., officials had announced the Lahaina \u200bfire was 100\u2062 percent contained despite limited capacity\u200c to pump water. The fire soon reignited in the uplands overlooking the town in the early afternoon, driven by 80 mph\u200c winds that forced hot embers into Lahaina&#8217;s more densely populated areas.<\/p>\n<p>In response,\u2064 local police set up \u2063roadblocks along the northbound highway that residents \u200csay <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/in-maui-fires-defying-police-blockades-proved-life-saving\/\" title=\"Defying Police Blockades in Maui Fires Saved Lives.\">created massive choke points<\/a> for people trying to \u2062escape.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Search and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/defying-police-blockades-proved-life-saving-in-maui-fires\/\" title=\"Defying police saved lives in Maui fires.\">recovery team members \u200dcheck burned \u2063buildings<\/a>\u2062 and cars in the \u200daftermath of\u2064 the \u200cwildfire in Lahaina,\u200d Hawaii, on \u200bAug.\u200c 18, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura\/AFP via \u200cGetty \u2063Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Officials reported 100 people or more ran into the ocean as the air \u2062grew thick with \u2063black smoke and \u200cswirling ash. Many stayed in the water for hours until help arrived.<\/p>\n<p>On Aug.\u2064 24, Maui County \u2062officials filed a lawsuit accusing the power company, Hawaiian Electric, of &#8220;gross negligence&#8221; by failing to de-energize power lines that would have prevented the wildfire, and \u200d$5.5 billion in\u2062 physical damage and catastrophic loss of life.<\/p>\n<p>The power company claimed in rebuttal that \u200cit cut\u2064 the electricity to the \u200clines for approximately six hours when the second deadly fire erupted in Lahaina.<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Eerie&#8217; Premonition<\/h2>\n<p>Ms. Albinson said she \u200dawoke the morning of \u2062Aug.\u200d 8 with a peculiar sense that something was wrong that day\u2014but what, exactly,\u200b she couldn&#8217;t say.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I \u200bjust \u200chad an eerie feeling that something was off before I \u200cwent to work. I filled my car with gas\u2062 and got extra food. I \u2064just wasn&#8217;t sure.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms. \u200bAlbinson \u2062had been working the same job for 10 years, cleaning condominiums and\u2063 bed-and-breakfasts in the\u200b old Lahaina surfing \u200ccommunity of Puamana.<\/p>\n<p>She called her boss \u200cat 7:30 a.m.,\u2064 who told her the power was\u2064 off and\u2062 that driving to work would take longer than \u200cusual due to the smaller \u200bfire and traffic on Front Street, a \u200cmain road\u2064 through the town.<\/p>\n<p>Ninety minutes later, Ms. Albinson arrived at\u200b work,\u2064 having negotiated a &#8220;crazy \u2062line of \u200ctraffic.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Burned cars sit in front of \u200ba home that was destroyed by the Aug. 8 wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, on \u200dAug. 16, 2023. (Justin \u2062Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>She remembered how the wind seemed to\u2062 cascade down \u2064the mountainside from the north as Hurricane Dora passed hundreds of miles off the southern coastline.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was almost like a swirling wind. It was just crazy\u2014like nothing I&#8217;d\u2064 ever seen,&#8221; Ms.\u2063 Albinson said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That \u200dwind was so nuts. You had to protect \u200dyour head if you got out\u200d of\u200d your car. Things were flying in\u2062 our eyes.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Around 3:30 p.m., the situation worsened. Ms. Albinson and a coworker left work together and followed each other home in separate vehicles.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We hoped to get to the highway and jaunt to the \u200cnext bypass. Instead, we were blocked off \u200dby \u200dpolice and [traffic] cones.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Albinson recalled \u200btelling a friend on\u2063 the phone\u200b as she sat in heavy traffic on Front Street: &#8220;I think I&#8217;m \u2062in the apocalypse.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She wondered why \u200dpolice were \u200dblocking the\u2062 exits\u200b and stopping cars, turning them back,\u2062 yet allowing other \u2064vehicles into the town as things were in &#8220;such chaos.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Albinson said she then pulled \u200boff the road\u200d at \u2063the corner \u200bof Lahainaluna and Front \u200dStreet and began \u2063waving at a police officer sitting\u2063 in his cruiser to ask for instructions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He would not look \u200dat me. He would \u200cnot\u2063 turn \u200bhis\u200d head. He just\u200b kept facing his computer and would not acknowledge me asking for assistance,&#8221;\u2064 Ms. Albinson said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I couldn&#8217;t quite \u2064understand why the cops would block everybody in unless it were for our safety.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>All around, the debris flew past her car in the gale-force winds. A large tree branch \u2064struck her windshield at one point, but luckily, the glass didn&#8217;t break.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There was no \u2063question in my \u200bmind people would be\u2063 stuck [in traffic]. I didn&#8217;t know what it meant \u200bat the \u2063time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms. \u2064Albinson said she watched her friend turn left to\u2064 head\u2064 south as she veered \u200dright to find the exit blocked by police. Quickly, she made a &#8220;20-point turn&#8221; and headed back to Puamana.<\/p>\n<p>Along the way, she saw\u200c her boss sitting in her car near an old banyan tree.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m going home,&#8221; her boss \u200bsaid.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Albinson said\u2062 she began to\u200d plead with her employer not to go back to \u200bthe house, sensing it wasn&#8217;t safe.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She drove off\u200b anyway. I \u2064didn&#8217;t hear anything from \u2062her \u2063for \u206224 hours. She spent the night [seeking safety] in \u2063the ocean.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With powerful winds buffeting her vehicle, Ms. Albinson knew she had to get out of Lahaina &#8220;at\u200b all costs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll break the \u2064 [police] barrier if I have to,&#8221;\u200b said Ms. Albinson, who managed to find an unguarded exit to Route 30 away from Lahaina\u2014and home.<\/p>\n<p>That night she told her daughter, Shelby\u200c Thomson, 27, &#8220;There&#8217;s going to\u200c be thousands of dead people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Mom, don&#8217;t say that,&#8221; her daughter said.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Search and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lahaina-residents-say-police-barricades-prevented-people-from-fleeing-raging-fires\/\" title=\"Lahaina locals claim barricades hindered escape from wildfires.\">recovery team members check burned buildings<\/a> and cars in\u200c the aftermath of\u2063 the wildfire \u200cin Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 18, 2023. \u200d(Yuki Iwamura\/AFP via Getty\u200d Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But\u2064 Ms.\u200c Albinson said \u2062she knew there were too many people still trapped in\u200b the town for it \u200bto be\u200d otherwise.<\/p>\n<p>Maui County officials announced at the end of August that 100 percent of the town had been searched for human remains. They put the death toll\u2062 at 115, with hundreds still missing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Call it divine intervention. We&#8217;ve been unpacking it,&#8221; said Ms. Thomson, realizing how close her mom had come to &#8220;not getting out&#8221; alive.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Another half hour and she would&#8217;ve \u2063been blocked in.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Lot\u200c of Confusion&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re just \u2063grateful to be alive,&#8221;\u2062 said Michelle, whose husband, Ed, lost all his tools for his \u2063contracting business in the Lahaina\u200d fire.<\/p>\n<p>Although the couple&#8217;s\u200c home burned in the fire, they were \u2063able to save \u200btheir \u200cdogs and 30 chickens.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>(Left) The Waiola Church \u2064is \u200bengulfed in flames \u200din \u200bLahaina, \u2064Hawaii,\u200c on Aug. 8, 2023. (Right) A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/number-of-missing-in-maui-expected-to-drop-below-100\/\" title=\"Maui's missing count to decrease below 100.\">volunteer makes damage assessment<\/a> of burned buildings in the aftermath of the wildfire on Aug. 12,\u200d 2023. (Matthew Thayer\/The Maui News via A, Yuki \u200dIwamura\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Michelle attributes\u200c the deadly fire to bad decisions by local officials \u200band &#8220;a lot of miscommunication. A lot\u2062 of confusion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Her husband recalled how bad the situation was on Front Street as panic-stricken motorists jammed the roadway.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;All of a \u2062sudden, flames and big embers were coming over the buildings right next \u200bto us,&#8221; Ed told \u2064The Epoch \u2064Times. &#8220;It was raining\u2014snowing embers.\u200d It was pretty thick. It was landing \u2063on the\u2064 grass, starting tiny fires, and going out. That freaked\u2063 everybody out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ed said\u2064 he was\u2062 astonished at how one lane of\u2062 northbound traffic on Front\u2063 Street \u2064quickly swelled \u200dinto \u2063six lanes of mayhem, all moving in the\u2064 same direction.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They were on\u200b the sidewalks\u2014they were everywhere. You couldn&#8217;t even \u200bget out of your vehicle. They were beside you,\u200d so close to\u2064 you. You couldn&#8217;t even open your doors.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/09\/03\/id5485590-Artboard-2-copy-5.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My wife\u200c kept saying [over the phone], &#8216;You&#8217;ve \u2062got to get out of there, even if \u200cyou have to run\u2063 away from the vehicle.\u2063 Just go.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ed then noticed two friends were \u2063in vehicles behind him who would later \u200bjump \u2062into the ocean\u2062 to \u2063save \u200ctheir lives.<\/p>\n<p>Ed&#8217;s chance to\u200d escape came when a vehicle opened a space to his right on Front Street.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just \u200bhit the gas and \u200dfilled his spot,&#8221; \u2062Ed said, \u2064throwing caution aside as he drove\u200c onto the sidewalk \u2063and grass in\u2063 front of homes,\u2064 edging his way further to the right to get out of traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Ed said he\u200b just kept moving \u200bforward until he finally\u2062 reached a blocked side street and\u2064 drove around the police barricade.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t go that way!&#8221; an\u200d officer shouted, but Ed simply responded, &#8220;Well, I&#8217;m going \u200canyway.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said getting onto the highway was &#8220;completely doable,&#8221; \u200cand feels, \u2062in retrospect, that defying the authorities probably saved his life.<\/p>\n<p>Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier and Mayor Richard Bissen have yet to return a phone call and \u2063email from The Epoch Times \u2063seeking comment for this article.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch\u2063 Times could not immediately reach interim Maui \u2063County \u2064Emergency Management\u2063 (MEMA) Administrator Darryl Oliveira\u200c for comment.<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 28, Mr.\u200c Oliveira replaced former MEMA administrator Herman Andaya, who\u2062 resigned earlier this month, citing &#8220;health reasons.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. \u200bAndaya became embroiled in controversy over his decision not to sound Maui County&#8217;s all-hazard \u200bwarning sirens that would have alerted residents\u2062 to the wildfires.<\/p>\n<p>While MEMA routinely tests the sirens on the first day of each month, the agency said\u200c it canceled the scheduled Sept. 1\u200d system\u200c check out of sympathy\u200c and respect for the fire victims.<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Survival Mode&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>Grale, a Lahaina resident, said\u2063 she was getting ready to go to work in Lahaina when her\u2063 grandson called her \u200cat 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 8, asking if she \u200dwas \u200cOK\u2064 due to the first fire.<\/p>\n<p>Everything is fine, she\u200d told him. &#8220;But\u200c when I went down to Lahaina, as soon as I got to the pull-off to Puamana, it was all blocked off.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Grale found another\u200c route \u2063but \u200bthe fire had spread onto \u200cLahainaluna Road. Her cell phone had also stopped working.<\/p>\n<p>She eventually made it to work by \u200bdoubling back onto\u2062 Front \u200dStreet navigating\u2063 the high\u200d winds and fallen trees.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/09\/03\/id5485591-Artboard-2-copy-6.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re just grateful to\u200b be\u200b alive,&#8221; \u200bsaid Michelle, whose\u200b husband, Ed, lost all \u200chis tools for his contracting business in the Lahaina fire.<\/p>\n<p>Although the \u200ccouple&#8217;s home burned in the fire,\u200c they were able\u2064 to save their dogs and \u200d30 chickens.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Cars destroyed by wildfire \u200cline remain Front Street\u2063 in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 11, 2023. (Justin \u200bSullivan\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Michelle attributes the\u2063 deadly\u2063 fire to bad decisions by local officials and &#8220;a lot of\u2063 miscommunication.\u200d A lot of confusion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Her husband recalled how bad the situation was on Front Street as panic-stricken motorists jammed the roadway.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;All\u2064 of a sudden, flames and\u200c big embers were coming over the\u200b buildings\u200d right next to us,&#8221; \u2063Ed told The Epoch \u2063Times. &#8220;It was\u2064 raining\u2014snowing \u200cembers. It was pretty thick.\u2064 It was landing\u200b on the grass, starting tiny fires, and going\u200c out. That freaked everybody\u2064 out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ed said\u200d he \u2063was astonished at how one lane of northbound traffic \u2064on Front Street \u2062quickly swelled into six lanes of mayhem, all moving in the\u2062 same direction.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They were on the sidewalks\u2014they were everywhere. You couldn&#8217;t even get\u2063 out of \u2063your vehicle. They were beside \u200byou, so close \u200dto you. You couldn&#8217;t even open your doors.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/09\/03\/id5485590-Artboard-2-copy-5.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My wife \u2062kept saying [over the phone], &#8216;You&#8217;ve got to get out of there, even\u200d if you have to run away from the vehicle. Just go.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ed then noticed two friends were in vehicles behind him who would later jump into the ocean to save their lives.<\/p>\n<p>Ed&#8217;s \u2064chance to escape \u200dcame when a vehicle opened\u2063 a space to \u2064his\u2064 right on Front Street.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just \u200chit the gas and filled his spot,&#8221; Ed said, throwing caution aside as he drove \u2062onto the sidewalk and grass in front of homes, edging his\u2063 way further to the right to get out of traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Ed said he \u200cjust kept moving forward\u2064 until he finally reached a blocked side street\u200c and drove \u2064around the\u2063 police barricade.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You\u2064 can&#8217;t go that way!&#8221; an \u2062officer shouted, but Ed simply responded, &#8220;Well, I&#8217;m going anyway.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said getting\u200b onto the highway was &#8220;completely doable,&#8221; and feels, in retrospect, that \u2063defying the authorities probably saved his life.<\/p>\n<p>Maui County Police\u2063 Chief John Pelletier\u200c and Mayor\u200b Richard\u2063 Bissen have yet to return a phone call and email from The Epoch Times seeking \u200dcomment for this article.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times could not immediately reach interim Maui County Emergency Management (MEMA) Administrator Darryl Oliveira for comment.<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 28, Mr. \u200bOliveira replaced former MEMA administrator Herman Andaya, who resigned earlier this month, citing &#8220;health reasons.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Andaya became embroiled in controversy over his decision not to sound Maui County&#8217;s all-hazard warning sirens that would have alerted \u2064residents to the wildfires.<\/p>\n<p>While MEMA routinely tests the \u2064sirens on the first day of each month, the agency said it canceled the scheduled\u200d Sept. 1 system check out of sympathy and respect for the\u200c fire \u2062victims.<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Survival Mode&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>Grale, a Lahaina resident, said she \u2062was \u200cgetting ready to go to work in Lahaina when her grandson called her at 5:30 \u2064a.m. on Aug. \u200b8, asking if she was OK due\u2064 to the first \u2062fire.<\/p>\n<p>Everything is fine, she told him. \u200d&#8221;But when I went down to Lahaina, \u2063as soon \u200bas\u2063 I got \u2064to the pull-off \u200dto\u200c Puamana, it was all blocked \u2063off.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Grale found another route\u2062 but the fire\u200b had spread onto Lahainaluna Road. Her cell phone had also stopped working.<\/p>\n<p>She eventually made it to work by doubling back onto Front Street\u2064 navigating the high winds and\u2062 fallen trees.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/09\/03\/id5485591-Artboard-2-copy-6.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We \u200choped to get \u2062to the \u200bhighway and jaunt to the next bypass. Instead, we were blocked off by police and [traffic] cones.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Albinson \u2062recalled telling\u2062 a friend on the phone as she sat in heavy traffic \u2062on Front Street: &#8220;I think I&#8217;m in the apocalypse.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>She wondered why police were blocking\u200b the exits \u2063and stopping cars, turning\u200c them back, yet\u200d allowing other vehicles into the town \u200das \u200dthings were in &#8220;such chaos.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Albinson said she then pulled off\u2063 the road at the corner of Lahainaluna and Front Street and began waving\u200b at a police officer sitting \u200din his cruiser to ask for instructions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He would not look at\u200d me. He would not turn his\u2063 head. He just kept\u200d facing his\u200b computer and would not acknowledge me asking for \u200bassistance,&#8221; Ms. Albinson\u200d said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I couldn&#8217;t quite understand why the cops would block everybody in unless it were for our safety.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>All around, the debris flew past her car in the gale-force winds. \u200cA large tree\u200b branch struck her windshield at one point, but luckily, the glass didn&#8217;t break.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There was no question in my mind\u2064 people would be stuck [in traffic]. I didn&#8217;t\u200b know what it meant\u2062 at the time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Albinson said she watched her friend turn left to head south as she\u2063 veered right to \u200dfind the exit blocked by police. \u2064Quickly, she made a &#8220;20-point\u200d turn&#8221; and\u200b headed back to \u2062Puamana.<\/p>\n<p>Along the way, she saw her boss \u200bsitting in her car near an old banyan tree.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m\u200d going home,&#8221;\u200d her\u2064 boss said.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Albinson said she began \u2062to \u2062plead with her \u200bemployer not to go back \u200dto the house, \u200dsensing it wasn&#8217;t safe.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She drove off anyway. I didn&#8217;t hear anything from her for 24 hours.\u2064 She spent\u200d the \u2062night [seeking safety] in \u2062the ocean.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With powerful winds buffeting her\u2064 vehicle, Ms. Albinson knew she had to get out of Lahaina &#8220;at all \u2064costs.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll break the [police] barrier if I have to,&#8221; said \u200dMs. Albinson, who managed to\u200b find an unguarded exit to Route 30 away from\u200d Lahaina\u2014and home.<\/p>\n<p>That night she\u2062 told her daughter, \u2063Shelby Thomson, 27, &#8220;There&#8217;s\u2064 going to\u200c be thousands of dead people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Mom, don&#8217;t say that,&#8221; her daughter said.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Search and recovery team members check burned buildings and cars in the aftermath of the wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 18, 2023. (Yuki Iwamura\/AFP via \u200dGetty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But Ms. Albinson said she knew there were too many people still trapped in the town\u2063 for\u2062 it to be otherwise.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/09\/01\/id5485230-FACT.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a>Maui County officials announced at \u200cthe\u200d end of August that 100 percent of the town had been searched \u2063for human remains. They put \u200bthe death toll at 115, with hundreds still missing.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Call it divine \u200cintervention. We&#8217;ve been unpacking it,&#8221;\u200c said Ms. \u2062Thomson, realizing how close \u2063her mom had come to\u2062 &#8220;not\u2063 getting out&#8221; alive.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Another half hour and she\u200d would&#8217;ve been blocked in.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Lot of Confusion&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re just \u2064grateful to be alive,&#8221; said Michelle, whose husband,\u200b Ed, lost all his tools for his\u2064 contracting business in the\u200c Lahaina fire.<\/p>\n<p>Although the couple&#8217;s home burned in the fire, they\u2062 were able to save their dogs and 30 chickens.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>(Left) The Waiola Church is engulfed in flames in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 8, 2023. (Right) A volunteer makes damage assessment of burned buildings in \u2063the aftermath of the wildfire on Aug. 12, 2023. (Matthew Thayer\/The Maui News via A, Yuki Iwamura\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Michelle attributes the deadly fire \u200bto\u200b bad decisions by local officials and\u2063 &#8220;a lot of miscommunication.\u2062 A lot of confusion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Her husband \u200crecalled how bad the situation was on Front Street as \u2063panic-stricken motorists jammed the roadway.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;All of a sudden, flames and big\u200c embers were coming over the buildings right next to us,&#8221; Ed\u2063 told The Epoch Times. &#8220;It was\u200d raining\u2014snowing embers. It was pretty thick. It \u200bwas landing on the grass, starting tiny fires, and\u200b going out. That freaked\u200c everybody out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ed said he was astonished at\u2064 how one lane of northbound\u200c traffic on Front Street quickly swelled into six lanes\u2062 of mayhem, all moving in the same direction.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They were on the sidewalks\u2014they were everywhere. You couldn&#8217;t even get out of your vehicle. They were beside \u200cyou, so close\u2062 to you. You couldn&#8217;t even open \u2064your doors.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/09\/03\/id5485590-Artboard-2-copy-5.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My wife \u2063kept\u2063 saying [over the phone],\u200c &#8216;You&#8217;ve got \u2064to get out \u200cof there,\u200c even \u200dif you have\u200b to\u200d run away \u200dfrom the vehicle. Just \u200bgo.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ed then noticed two friends were in vehicles behind him who would later jump\u200b into the\u2063 ocean to save their lives.<\/p>\n<p>Ed&#8217;s chance to escape came\u200c when a vehicle opened a space to his right on Front Street.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just hit the gas and filled\u2063 his spot,&#8221; Ed said, throwing \u2063caution aside as he drove onto \u2064the sidewalk and grass in front of homes, edging his way further to\u200d the\u200c right to get out of traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Ed said\u200b he just kept \u2062moving forward until he finally \u200dreached a blocked side street and drove \u2062around the\u2063 police barricade.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t \u2062go that way!&#8221; an officer shouted, but \u200bEd\u2064 simply responded, &#8220;Well, I&#8217;m going anyway.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said \u2063getting onto the highway was &#8220;completely doable,&#8221; and feels, in retrospect, that defying the authorities probably saved his life.<\/p>\n<p>Maui County \u2062Police Chief John Pelletier\u200c and Mayor Richard Bissen have yet to return a phone call and email from The\u2064 Epoch \u2064Times \u200dseeking comment for \u200dthis article.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch \u200cTimes could not immediately reach interim Maui County\u2064 Emergency Management (MEMA) Administrator Darryl Oliveira for comment.<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 28, Mr. Oliveira replaced former MEMA\u2064 administrator\u200c Herman Andaya, who resigned earlier this\u200b month, citing &#8220;health reasons.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Andaya became embroiled in controversy over his decision \u200bnot to sound Maui County&#8217;s \u2064all-hazard warning sirens that would have alerted residents to the wildfires.<\/p>\n<p>While \u2063MEMA routinely tests the\u2064 sirens on the first day of each month, \u2062the agency said it canceled the scheduled Sept.\u200c 1 system check out of sympathy and respect for the fire victims.<\/p>\n<h2>&#8216;Survival Mode&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>Grale, \u200da Lahaina resident, said she was getting ready to go to work in Lahaina when her grandson called her at 5:30 a.m. on Aug. 8, asking if she was OK due to the first fire.<\/p>\n<p>Everything is fine, she told \u2064him. &#8220;But when I went down \u2063to Lahaina, as soon as I got to the pull-off to Puamana, it was\u200b all blocked off.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Grale found another route but the fire had spread onto Lahainaluna Road. Her\u2062 cell phone had also stopped working.<\/p>\n<p>She eventually \u200bmade it to work by doubling back onto Front\u2062 Street navigating the high winds and fallen\u2062 trees.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/09\/03\/id5485591-Artboard-2-copy-6.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re just grateful to be alive,&#8221; said Michelle, whose husband, Ed, lost \u2062all his tools for his contracting business in the Lahaina fire.<\/p>\n<p>Although the couple&#8217;s home \u2063burned in the\u2062 fire, they were able to save their dogs and 30 chickens.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Cars destroyed by wildfire line remain Front \u2062Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Aug. 11, 2023. (Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Michelle \u2063attributes the deadly fire to \u200bbad\u200d decisions by local officials and &#8220;a lot of miscommunication. A lot\u200d of confusion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Her husband recalled how bad\u2063 the situation was on Front\u2062 Street as panic-stricken motorists jammed the roadway.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;All\u2063 of\u2062 a sudden, flames and big embers\u200c were\u2064 coming\u200d over the buildings right next to us,&#8221; \u200bEd told The Epoch\u200b Times. &#8220;It was\u2064 raining\u2014snowing embers. It was \u2063pretty thick. It was\u2063 landing \u200bon the grass,\u2064 starting tiny fires, and going out. That freaked everybody out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ed said he was\u2064 astonished at how one lane of northbound traffic on Front Street quickly swelled into six lanes of mayhem, all moving in the same direction.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They were\u200b on\u200b the sidewalks\u2014they were everywhere.\u2064 You couldn&#8217;t even get out of your vehicle. They were beside you, so close to you. You couldn&#8217;t even open your doors.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2023\/09\/03\/id5485590-Artboard-2-copy-5.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My wife \u2062kept\u2062 saying [over the phone], &#8216;You&#8217;ve got to get out of there, even if\u200c you have to run \u200daway from the vehicle. Just go.'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ed \u2063then \u2063noticed two \u200dfriends were \u200cin\u2063 vehicles behind him who would later jump into the ocean\u200b to save their lives.<\/p>\n<p>Ed&#8217;s chance to \u2062escape came when a vehicle \u200dopened a space to his right on \u200dFront Street.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I just hit the gas and filled his spot,&#8221; Ed said, throwing \u200dcaution aside\u200d as he drove onto the sidewalk and grass in\u2063 front of homes, edging \u2063his way further to the right to get out of traffic.<\/p>\n<p>Ed said he just kept moving forward until he finally reached a\u200b blocked side street and drove\u2064 around the police barricade.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t go that way!&#8221; an officer shouted, but Ed simply responded, &#8220;Well, I&#8217;m going\u2062 anyway.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He \u200bsaid getting onto the\u200d highway was &#8220;completely doable,&#8221; and feels, \u2062in retrospect, that defying the authorities probably \u2063saved his life.<\/p>\n<p>Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier and \u2063Mayor Richard Bissen have yet to return a phone call and\u2062 email from The Epoch Times seeking comment for\u2064 this article.<\/p>\n<p>The Epoch Times could not immediately reach interim Maui County Emergency Management \u200b(MEMA) Administrator Darryl Oliveira for comment.<\/p>\n<p>On Aug. 28, Mr.\u2062 Oliveira replaced former MEMA administrator Herman Andaya,\u200d who resigned earlier\u200b this month, citing \u2063&#8221;health reasons.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Andaya became embroiled in controversy over his \u2064decision not to sound Maui County&#8217;s all-hazard warning\u2064 sirens \u2062that would\u2064 have alerted residents to the wildfires.<\/p>\n<p>While MEMA routinely \u2062tests the sirens on \u200bthe first day of each month, the\u2062 agency said\u2062 it canceled the scheduled Sept. 1 system check out of sympathy \u200dand\u2063 respect for \u200bthe fire victims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Christy Albinson, 47, remains haunted by nightmares a month after the devastating Lahaina wildfire in West Maui. She describes her dreams as disturbing, with images of children buried in the sand. The trauma has left her feeling spooked and vulnerable, experiencing sudden panic attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":2021578,"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-2021577","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\/2021577","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\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2021577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2021577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2021578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2021577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2021577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2021577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}