Maui wildfires lead to evacuation for Channahon family

Linda and Jim Lambdin’s trip to Hawaii – their first to Maui – started out normal enough.

Along with their granddaughters, ages 15 and 22, the Channahon couple arrived at their Lahaina resort on Saturday, Aug. 5. They enjoyed some nice meals at their resort in Lahaina – a historic town that dates back to the 17th century and is a favorite with tourists – and took a drive on the Road to Hana, a scenic route of curves and bridges.

Then the winds came in, followed by one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in recent years.

“We had a normal vacation for a day and half,” said Linda Lambdin, co-owner of Premier Salon Suites in Shorewood.

At least 93 people were killed in the inferno that swept through the island, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.

No warning

On Monday morning, the resort lost power but still had internet, Linda Lambdin said. They read online that Hurricane Dora was “passing through” and causing the high winds.

“We had branches and debris fall onto us as we were sitting at the pool when the wind picked up,” she said.

People were told to leave the pool and go to their rooms. So, they did.

On Tuesday morning, the internet was out when the family woke up. The resort’s restaurants were closed – and so were the pools. The strong winds remained.

“They had tied down all the chairs at the pool,” she said. “We couldn’t even sit on them.”

Linda Lambdin said they were told that the winds had blown down power lines. But services were expected to be restored “in a day or two,” she said. The resort also brought in bottled drinking water.

“We had a luau scheduled for that night,” she said. “I told my husband, ‘Let’s just stay on the resort today and do our luau tonight.’ We did not know at that point there were any fires.”

A generator provided electricity on Tuesday and part of Wednesday to light the hallways and one phone charging station, Linda Lambdin said.

“On Wednesday, the generator completely gave out,” she said. “We were given glow sticks for lights.”

Linda said the family snacked on granola bars she had in the room and the resort cooked food on a grill.

“We waited in line for two hours,” she said. “They were selling hot dogs for $18 and hamburgers for $23.”

Jim Lambdin said he was upset that the resort was charging for the food and not even offering a partial refund since they had no air conditioning and couldn’t use the pool.

“They didn’t even tell us about the fire,” Jim Lambdin said, “unless they didn’t want people to panic.”

By then, Linda Lambdin was ready to leave. But she was told “the road was blocked and it wasn’t safe,” she said.

“At one point, we saw a lot of black in the sky. But we did not know about the fires,” Linda Lambdin said. “We thought a storm was coming in.”

Instead, the family learned about the fire almost by chance.

Jim Lambdin said they talked to visitors staying at the opposite end of the resort who could see the fires from their windows.

“At one point, someone came in on a boat,” Linda Lambdin said. “He said he was there to take people to the other side of the island and we had 30 minutes to get on the boat.”

The boatman mentioned the fires.

“We did not know the extent of the fire at that time,” Linda Lambdin said. “And I said, ‘Well, am I going to be burned up if I stay here?’ And he said, ‘No, you’ll be OK.’ ”

So the family stayed.

They were evacuated early Thursday morning after learning about it from a message written on a whiteboard.

Visitors evacuated to Kahului Airport

“We were told we all needed to get out of the resort and evacuate ASAP; they were sending buses to pick us up” Linda Lambdin said. “There were no elevators, no lights in the hallway; it was dark. So we went up to our room and just threw everything we needed in our suitcases. We went down six flights of stairs in pitch black and got on buses and were evacuated to the airport.”

En route to the Kahului Airport, the bus almost drove into a fallen tree. Linda said she saw a large building, perhaps an apartment or hotel, nearly engulfed in fire.

At the airport, the family was unable to move up their return flight. People were sleeping on the airport floors.

“They’d told us at the resort that the airport was waiting for us,” Jim Lambdin said. “But when we got there, they said, ‘We don’t know why they sent you here. We won’t have flights for two days.’ ”

The Red Cross eventually brought food and water, Linda Lambdin said. A family member in Illinois was finally able to book the family a flight home.

They were back in Illinois on Friday.

“We felt so lucky and thankful to make it home safely,” Linda Lambdin said in a text message. “We finally for the first time got to watch the news. Our hearts are broken and sad for the native Hawaiians of the island and residents. We can’t imagine losing everything in an instant like that. We’ve done nothing but prayed for Maui and spread the word on ways to help donate to Maui and help get resources to the island.”