Downey couple escapes from Maui wildfires

DOWNEY — It was supposed to be a celebration of their 35th wedding anniversary.

Reggie Donahue and husband Pablo arrived on the island of Maui on Aug. 4 to kick off their 8-day long festivities. Four days into their trip, on Aug. 7, they visited Lahaina.

A day later, it was on fire.

Over 115 lives were lost, thousands displaced, and as many as 1,100 remain unaccounted for after a devastating wildfire tore through the historic Hawaiian town of Lahaina.

The Donahue’s were staying at the Napili Surf, around six miles north and out of harms way, although that wasn’t completely clear at first.

As the tragedy unfolded, information was scarce.

“Initially we were told one power pole went down, and so on Tuesday night we lost power,” said Donahue. “They said, ‘Oh, it’ll be fixed in the morning.’”

It wasn’t until the following morning that the Donahue’s knew anything “officially.”

“The general manager [of the resort], his name is Tano, he got in his truck… and went the back roads [into town], and came back upset,” said Donahue. “We had a generator. We had no power, so he had a generator, so we were listening to a transistor radio.”

Still, the Donahue’s received more details from their family back home.

“Wednesday night is when we spoke to our kids,” said Donahue. “My son said, ‘Mom, the boats are gone,’ and I said, ‘No they’re not Matt, we were just there.’ ‘No, the boats are gone. Everything is gone. Lahaina is gone.’

“We knew it was bad, but we heard from our own kids from California.”

In fact, what the Donahue’s were receiving from their kids back home was often better information than what was available locally.

“The lack of information was really horrendous… All we kept hearing was the power was out, not that Laheina was gone,” said Donahue. “I was literally just sitting at the radio, and they were not giving any information because I think a lack of information all around.”

Knowing that evacuation might be difficult and not guaranteed immediately, the Donahue’s made the decision to stick things out for the remainder of their planned trip.

“We went three and a half days without power, without electricity,” said Donahue. “We had peanut butter and jelly, we played 20 Questions; we were okay.”

In the meantime, their resort began taking in locals who had lost their homes – and some family – in the fires.

“A lady shows up [with her 8-day-old baby], knocks on the door, and says to [Tano], ‘You’re related to my cousin,’” said Donahue. “[Tano says], ‘Yeah, Yeah, I know. Come in.’ She brings her baby and the diaper bag. Following her was her husband and two grandparents.”

Another family also arrived; the son, Junior who was back from college, having had to rescue his four siblings from the fire.

“They welcomed all these people, and they also welcomed people from the Sheraton and the Marriot,” said Donahue. “Then Thursday morning he called all of us to this area, and said ‘If you don’t have a reservation here…you need to go because I need to take care of my people.’”

Before leaving, the Donahue’s tried to help where they could, helping collect food and supplies and convincing several other travelers to leave their clothes behind for those who had lost everything.

Now, they’re hoping to support even more.

Donahue is encouraging others to donate to Maui’s Mana, which was established by a couple who frequent Napili Surf to support the families who have been impacted. Many of those families – some upwards of 10 people - are currently living out of the small resort.

“I think my biggest takeaway: it was a minor inconvenience for me and my husband; we will always remember our anniversary,” said Donahue. “It’s a lifetime of pain, and loss, and heartache for these families.

“That’s why I don’t want it to be about me, but I want Downey to directly help these families, because this is real, this is so real.”

Donahue says she “hasn’t slept” since coming home and seeing the true level of destruction.

“Getting home, watching the things, made me realize, wow, I was blessed and missed all that, but did not know the destruction,” said Donahue. “I was at Napili Surf, and literally we didn’t do anything from the point it started.”

She said that providing further help is going to be part of her recovery.

“I feel I know enough people. People have said, ‘Reggie, what can I do,’” said Donahue. “…Tano and his wife, they know everybody’s level of need. There might be people there who didn’t lose their home, didn’t lose anything and they’re okay, but the bulk of these people did. So that’s this.”

To donate to Maui’s Mana, visit https://mauismana.com/donate.