Red Cross volunteers head to Maui to help those impacted by wildfires
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Volunteers from around the country have headed to Maui to help those been devastated by the wildfires there.
The Red Cross sent photos of some of the people they have been assisting, along with their harrowing stories.
Among them were Arthur and Tara Valencia and their three children – Maele, Gabriel, and Mia. The Valencias lived in Lahaina, and loaded up their dog, Coco; their parakeet, Snowflake; and all their belongings when the ash and soot from the wildfires started covering everything nearby.
"I could feel the fire," Tara Valencia told the Red Cross. "I could feel the heat from it. So, I went and got my bag, my Bible, the water, the dog and then we got in the car. It was so hard to get in the car. The wind was blowing so hard. It was like 80 miles per hour. … It was like we were in a tornado. It was smokey and scary."
Tara Valencia said black smoke filled the air as the family drove through Lahaina.
"I said, just keep going. Let's see if we can get through it," she told the Red Cross. "I was so scared. I was like, 'Babe, if the fire comes, we're jumping out. We're not staying in this car and dying.'"
The family escaped, and lived out of their car for a few days before coming to the Red Cros shelter at the War Memorial Stadium Complex.
The Red Cross also assisted Loc Tran and his wife, Thao, who escaped the fire by climbing into the ocean. While he was separated from his wife, Tran used a discarded carpet to keep the flames at bay.
The death toll in the Maui wildfires reached 111 Wednesday — and was expected to rise considerably — as many desperate residents searched for missing family members in the wreckage of the fire that decimated an estimated 80% of the historic town of Lahaina.
Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Adam Weintraub told reporters Wednesday that the number of people unaccounted for is estimated to be between 1,100 and 1,300. People across the Hawaiian island have been asked to provide DNA samples in an effort to identify human remains.
The Red Cross has set up a dedicated site where CBS 2 viewers can give to those in need in Maui. The site is www.redcross.org/cbs2.