Maui brushfires leave Metro Detroiters scrambling to evacuate
(CBS DETROIT) - The death toll from wildfires on Hawaii's Maui island rose Thursday, with at least 53 people confirmed dead, officials said.
One blaze, which nearly destroyed the historic town of Lahaina, was said to be 80% contained earlier in the day. CBS News Detroit is hearing from Metro Detroit residents who had to flee.
Laura Jones tells CBS News Detroit that she, her daughter, and friends were visiting Maui when the fires broke out.
"We went to a luau a couple of nights before, and that area is no longer," Jones said.
On Tuesday, their villa lost power. As the fires burned, they expected to be evacuated.
"Outside of our villa, the fire was a bit further out, but it was absolutely coming in our direction. We were evacuated at 3 a.m.," she said.
Jones says she had to drive to the airport during the dark foggy hours.
"It was dark. I don't know if it was light out; I could've handled the nervousness of seeing the cliffs and how far down they were."
Hawaiian officials say more than 1,000 structures are damaged or destroyed. About 80 miles flying south of Maui is the "big island."
Emily Gail lives there, where the brush fires also resulted in a scramble.
"Here on the big island, we had two big fires north of me. One up by Mauna Kea, the north side of the island. They evacuated five pretty sizeable neighborhoods," Gail said.
Gail moved to Hawaii nearly three decades ago. Beforehand, she was a Metro Detroit resident. She says she can't recall a time when the weather was this severe.
"We all got word that there would be a lot of winds - and inclement weather because of Hurricane Dora, which was going to go 500 miles south of Hawaii island."
The Maui blazes started Tuesday after powerful winds from Hurricane Dora fanned the flames. Gail says she has friends in Lahaina where most of the damage is, but it's been difficult to reach them.
"There are all kinds of neighborhoods around downtown Detroit. Same thing for Lahaina, all kinds of neighborhoods people who have lived their entire lives there and grown up, and now they're all houseless," Gail said.
Gails say Hawaii is still very much open for tourism. She encourages others that were traveling to Maui to consider visiting a nearby island to help support or volunteer with the cleanup efforts.
For information on donating to help those affected by the fires, visit here.