As emergency workers have the grim job of sifting through the destruction on Maui, survivors of the deadliest wildfire in modern American history are doing what they can to get by. One of them is a Kentuckian who moved there just a few years ago. She's lost nearly everything, but says the community's response has been amazing.
Emily Tincher left Lexington three and a half years ago to live a dream in Lahaina.
"As much as I love Kentucky, I knew I wanted to expand my horizons and venture outside of the Bluegrass," Tincher said.
She has been working at a resort as a meetings and special events manager.
"We go to the beach every weekend, go surf, we go snorkel, we go dive, we've seen all sorts of incredible wildlife," she said.
Last Tuesday, everything changed.
"Around 3:00, we start seeing smoke, so we're just keeping an eye on that, kind of monitoring it, seeing if it's coming closer to where we live. Within that next hour is when things just went nuts," she said.
High winds fed a wildfire that swept through Lahaina.
"At 4:30, we just see this wall of black smoke coming towards us and I look at her and I said we need to leave," she said.
Tincher and a friend evacuated. It was hard to get confirmation about what had happened to her home for the next couple of days, but by Thursday, they were allowed back. Her home was gone.
"It was just rubble. My car is just a frame. The only things that are still standing are our water heater and our air conditioning units. Everything else has just been reduced to rubble," she said.
Tincher's been able to stay at the resort where she works. She was able to save her important documents and her dog, Snoop. There are now more than 100 people confirmed dead, and countless homes and businesses destroyed. Through it all, though, Emily says, the people of Maui have wasted no time caring for one another.
"The community itself: rock stars. People who have lost everything are the first people in line to help others," Tincher said.
She said the locals didn't wait for emergency responders to set up official avenues for help.
"First thing Wednesday morning, people were organizing food drives, people were organizing water, people were organizing gas runs," she said.
Tincher's friends have created a GoFundMe page to help her get on her feet. LEX 18's parent company, Scripps, has also created a fundraiser through the Scripps Howard Fund.
Tincher hopes to be there as the community rebuilds.
"It's the love of the Āina, which is 'land' in Hawaiian. It's the love of the community, the ohana, that's what's driving this," she said.
