A local couple scrambled to get home after getting caught in the Hawaii Wildfires.
Two flights from the Honolulu hub came in early this morning, many scrambling to get home as flames spread quickly across the parts of the Big Island and Maui.
Thousands of Hawaii residents and vacationers raced to escape as blazes swept across the island, destroying parts of a centuries-old town and killing at least 36 people in one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in recent years.
Jen Lucander and John Ahchong from Westminster were vacationing at an Airbnb in Lahaina.
“The flames were outside of the hotel, we went and we looked out and the people at the hotel were saying you’re fine, you’re fine everything fine. Just stay here, you’re all good,” Lucander tells us.
They say the flames with 100 feet away at one point, and they scrambled to get to the airport, even trying to take people with them.
“All of a sudden we heard people shouting and screaming,” Lucander added.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green says Lahaina is home to 9,000 people and homes are destroyed and hundreds of families are displaced.
The fire took the island by surprise, leaving behind burned-out cars and piles of rubble where historic buildings had stood in Lahaina Town, which dates to the 1700s and has long been a favorite destination of tourists.
“We have no more Lahaina. It’s gone,” Green said.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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