Family Takes a Step Toward Wildfire Recovery

LAHAINA - Ane and Lafaele Folaumoeloa are ready to take the next step in a journey to recovery that began after the Lahaina wildfires destroyed their home and all their possessions.

The couple and their three children - a boy, aged 11, a girl also 11, and their 5-year-old sister - are among the first survivors scheduled to move into FEMA's Kilohana Group Housing site.

Kilohana will become a temporary haven for up to 167 individuals and families - a Lahaina location where wildfire survivors can plan for the future.

The family's new modular unit will come with three bedrooms and basic furnishings. For the first time in more than a year, they will have a kitchen.

Ane says she's grateful. The help they received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross, gave the family a temporary refuge in Lahaina, close to their former home. Now, they are ready to move ahead.

Their ordeal began Aug. 8, 2023, the day of the wildfires. Fierce winds left them without power or cell service. The couple and their three children decided to leave their Lahaina rental on Komo Mai Street to do some shopping in Kahului. But on the return drive, a barricade stopped them from entering Lahaina at Hokokio Place. They had to turn back to Kahului.

"We couldn't see anything," recalled Lafaele. "The smoke started to come up top of the sky, over the whole of Lahaina."

By then, thousands of Lahaina residents were evacuating. Traffic was bumper to bumper. When the family reached Kahului, they searched for a hotel room but could not find one. They sheltered at an uncle's home, thinking they would return to Lahaina the next day.

But at 3 a.m., Ane said she received a text message from her landlord, a firefighter who had stayed behind. It read: "Don't go home. There is nothing there. All Lahaina down."

A few days later, the family moved closer to their previous home. They went to the Papakea Resort in Kaʻanapali, a hotel taking in survivors and later participating in the emergency shelter program managed by the state and the American Red Cross.

After the Red Cross program ended, FEMA moved the family into a nearby hotel, the Royal Lahaina, as part of its Direct Federal Assistance sheltering program.

Although they were relieved to have the continued shelter and proximity to the children's school, the Sacred Heart temporary school, Ane's children longed for a place where they could ride their bikes again. Their mother looks forward to having a stove so she can prepare the family's favorite dish, corned beef
lau lau.

Kilohana is designed to give them space to get back to normal while they find their permanent home.

For the latest information on the Maui wildfire recovery efforts, visit mauicounty.gov, mauirecovers.org, fema.gov/disaster/4724 and Hawaii Wildfires - YouTube. Follow FEMA on social media: @FEMARegion9 and facebook.com/fema. You may also get disaster assistance information and download applications at sba.gov/hawaii-wildfires.