tHiS Spread laSHawna Garnier
SURVIVING THE LAHAINA FIRE —
The images from the August 8 wildfire that engulfed Lahaina, Maui, are apocalyptic and utterly horrifying. Clockwise from top left: 80-mile-an-hour winds wreaked havoc on boats trying to help in rescue efforts; the nightmarish scene at Lahaina Harbor on the night of the fire; Lashawna Garnier motored back into Lahaina Harbor on August 9 to find her community of 30 years in ruins.
I am a longtime reader of Latitude 38 and have lived and worked in Lahaina for decades. My vessel, Stella Orion, was a 1988 Hunter Legend 37 that my boyfriend Ian McKelvey and I purchased in Emeryville in 2020. After a total refit at Berkeley Marine Center in June of 2021, we sailed her over to Maui. I would love to see my fellow Lahaina Harbor boat owners acquire new vessels, and when the harbor is rebuilt, sail them together into the finish of a Vic-Maui ... one can dream, I suppose!
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t's been almost two months since fire tore through Lahaina, Maui. This place I've called home for more than 30 years is now completely decimated. My sailboat burned and sank, my truck was turned to ashes, and my condo is severely damaged. The home I purchased in 2020 is standing, but uninhabitable. I remind myself that these are only material things and that others have suffered unthinkable losses. I reflect back on that night to the Page 62 • Latitude 38 • November, 2023
details that led to my own survival, and the circumstances that led me to make the decisions that I did. Although I catch myself second-guessing and wondering "what if," I know I could have paid the ultimate price for trying to save material objects. I was at Lahaina Harbor aboard my boat Stella Orion when I first saw the smoke. I tried to drive the one mile back down Front Street to my house, but traffic was at a standstill. At the last corner — where turning around was still possible — I turned the wheel and went the wrong way down a one-way street to get back to the harbor. If I hadn't, I may have been stuck on Front Street in my vehicle like so many others. Some made it. Some didn't. Because I'm a captain for the MauiLana'i ferry, I knew in the back of my mind I had access to our small skiff, which was much more maneuverable than my sailboat in the 80-mph winds that swept Maui in early August. This brought me some comfort. When the fire had engulfed Front Street and it seemed that the fuel
dock would be next, I used that skiff to evacuate myself and four other boat owners. Two were transferred to a Coast Guard boat and brought to Maalaea. The other two and I took shelter offshore on a large tour boat. My two remaining companions were also captains in the harbor and knew this vessel had supplies; they also knew how to start it and get farther offshore, should the need arise. The 80-mph winds would breathe in and out, and the three of us debated about going back in for our boats during some of the lulls, but the engine on the skiff had flooded with water and was stalling. We all agreed our boats would likely be safer in their slips, considering the sea conditions. At this time, none of us truly believed the breakwall side of the harbor, where our boats were located, would burn. I shudder to think what might have happened if we'd decided to go back in. By the time it was dark, the realization that all was lost had set in. I struggled to see the telltale sign of my mast through binoculars, and as I did, I