President Biden Declares Emergency Over Deadly Hawaii Wildfires; Christian Sites Damaged

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

HONOLULU, USA (Worthy News) – U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday approved a “major disaster” declaration for the island state of Hawaii after dozens of people died here in massive wildfires and many were forced to dive into the ocean to escape the flames.

At least 36 people were killed in the deadliest blazes the United States has seen in five years, following 2018’s Camp Fire that killed at least 85 people in California, officials said.

“Anyone who’s lost a loved one, whose home has been damaged and destroyed, is going to get help immediately,” President Biden pledged. His declaration was meant to unlock federal aid for those affected by fires.

He spoke as 11,000 people were evacuated as wildfires devastated the historic town of Lahaina, its harbor, and surrounding areas in Hawaii’s Maui County.

Lahaina, the former capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1820 to 1845, has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1962.

Adults and children were forced to dive into the ocean, seeking safety as flames ravaged through the night. The U.S. Coast Guard said it rescued over 50 people who jumped into the Pacific Ocean to escape the fire.

SURVIVORS RECALL ‘HELL’

Among those rescued were two men from Lahaina. “We couldn’t really see anything, sometimes it was just blacked out by the smoke, but you could still see the flames,” one man told local Hawaii news station KHON.

“We tried to shelter from the wind ’cause it was so hot it was actually burning our skin, and we had debris just falling on us,” the other man added. “I called the police, and they told us to just jump in the water.”

Detailing how they struggled to stay in the water — trying to rescue a dog in the process — one of the men said the situation “felt like we were in hell” and was essentially “indescribable.”

They left behind a town where fanned by winds from a faraway hurricane, multiple neighborhoods were burned to the ground, including Christian historical sites.

Among the sites destroyed by fire was the Baldwin Home, Maui’s oldest house, which served as a missionary compound in 1834. More than a century later, it was restored and converted into a museum.

Additionally, the Waiola Church was burning. It had been rebuilt twice since being founded as Hawaii’s first Christian Church in the early 1800s.

LANDMARK ALSO BURNS

Other historic sites burned to the ground or seriously damaged included a massive 150-year-old Banyan tree in Lahaina that served as a local landmark.

The Pioneer Hotel, which had been in operation since 1901, making it one of the oldest in the Hawaiian islands, also didn’t escape the blazes.

Additionally, the Lahaina Hongwanji Mission, which was built in 1933 as a Shin Buddhist temple, was destroyed.

And in a setback for historians, the Old Lahaina Courthouse and Heritage Museum documenting the town’s indigenous beginnings to its present-day tourism was severely damaged.

Once bustling with people, the streets in the area were now populated with burnt-out cars, reporters said.

The blazes raging across two of Hawaii’s islands trapped locals and visitors as solid winds linked to Hurricane Dora hampered efforts by authorities to contain the fires, according to witnesses.

NOT ENOUGH SHELTERS

Hawaii Governor Josh Green, a Democrat, warned that the state does not have enough shelter for long-term living.

Green urged tourists to leave or cancel nonessential travel for Maui to open up hotel rooms, Airbnb listings, and other accommodations for the displaced.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority echoed his appeal. It said visitors on nonessential travel were being asked to leave and that nonessential travel is “strongly discouraged at this time.”

About 11,000 flew out of Maui on Wednesday, with at least another 1,500 expected to leave Thursday, said Ed Sniffen, the state transportation director.

Officials prepared the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu, the capital, to take in the thousands who have been displaced.

Yet uncertainty remained over how and when Hawaii would overcome one of its worst wildfires in recent memory.

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