Most journalists were confined to an area where they could not see people visiting their properties. Officials say ash could contain asbestos, lead, arsenic or other toxins. Nonprofit groups also offered personal protective equipment, including masks and coveralls. Those returning were given water, shade, washing stations, portable toilets, medical and mental health care, and transportation assistance if needed. She said it was difficult to be the first residents to return “knowing that so many are waiting for this opportunity.” She said the jars, weakened by the heat, cracked at her touch. A few of the walls are still standing, and some green lawn remains, she said.Ĭlaydon said Monday evening that she was able to take some sea glass. It’s a piece of home.”Ĭlaydon’s home was a single-story cinderblock house painted a reddish-tan, similar to the red dirt in Lahaina. “Whatever I might find, even if it’s just those jars of sea glass, I’m looking forward to taking it. “I want the freedom to just be there and absorb what happened,” Claydon said. Little remains recognizable beyond the jars of sea glass that stood outside the front door.Ĭlaydon hoped to collect those jars and any other mementos she might find. The first area to be cleared for reentry was a zone of about two dozen parcels in the northern part of Lahaina.įrom a National Guard blockade near the burn zone, Jes Claydon has been able to see the ruins of the rental home where she lived for 13 years and raised three children. Officials urged returning residents not to sift through the ashes for fear of raising toxic dust. Some survivors jumped over a sea wall and sheltered in the waves as hot black smoke blotted out the sun. The wildfire killed at least 97 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, most of them homes. The prospect of returning has stirred strong emotions in residents who fled in vehicles or on foot as wind-whipped flames raced across Lahaina, the historic capital of the former Hawaiian kingdom, and overcame people stuck in traffic trying to escape. By midday, about two dozen vehicles carrying residents had entered the area. ![]() Authorities opened one small part of it on Monday, allowing residents in for supervised visits from 8 a.m. But since then, the burned area has been off-limits to all but authorized workers. 8 wildfire, some people were able to return to their properties to evaluate the damage. “People who haven’t been here since the fire are taken aback by the amount of and extent of the destruction.” ![]() “They’re very appreciative to get in here, something they’ve all been waiting anxiously for,” Darryl Oliveira, interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, told reporters gathered outside the burn zone. HONOLULU – The first of thousands of residents who lost their homes in the wildfire that destroyed the Hawaii town of Lahaina returned to their devastated properties Monday, with some stopping for a moment of reflection and others searching for mementos among the ruins.
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