Maiah & Myka's recovery fund - Lahaina Fire 2023

My name is Maiah Cope and I have lived and worked in Lahaina, Maui for 2.5 years. My address is 129 Wahikuli Rd. I lived there with my partner, Myka Phillips, our cat Phil, and our three housemates Allie, Elise, and JJ until the Lahaina Fire displaced us and so many others from our homes on August 8, 2023.

Four of us were home on the day of the fire. Power and cell service had been out since early that morning. We spent most of our Maui “Snowday” inside with our housemates. JJ happened to look outside around 16:30 and saw billowing black smoke from what looked like one street over. This was the first time we were made aware of the fire. The winds were gusting up to 80 mph and we could hear frequent explosions in the distance. We saw bumper-to-bumper traffic on Wahikuli and Ainakea. Myka walked over to one of the drivers in traffic and he advised us to pack up and evacuate Lahaina. The four of us grabbed what things we could in 10 minutes, jumped in our cars, and drove North. We saw the smoke consume our street as we made it past the post office, still not understanding the scope of the disaster. We spent a very uneasy night in Napili with friends, still without power or cell service. The next day, we were finally able to go high enough up the mountain to find cell service and call our families/friends who had not heard from us for over 24 hours.

It has now been 9 days since the fire destroyed Lahaina. From aerial footage, we can see the cinder block portion of our house is still standing, but everything around it is gone. From what we’ve heard/read it is unsafe to re-enter now (or potentially ever). There are hazardous particles and toxic chemicals in and around our home. We have been unable to access our home since the evening of August 8 and the National Guard remains stationed at the entrance of our street. We are operating as though it is a complete loss.

The enormity of this disaster has been evident everywhere around us. The devastation here is impossible to describe and the need is immense. We have been doing our best to survive day-to-day and assist the community that we love and call home. Daily necessities, housing, and the means to feel safe/secure are in short supply. We are so grateful to have survived when many others did not, but the future feels so uncertain – we’ve lost our home, our jobs, and our sense of security. Myka and I plan to stay in Maui as long as we can be of help by running supplies into the affected area and supporting our community. We still don’t have consistent housing but we are on the displaced housing list for placement. Any assistance/donation that you make to us will help us secure housing, enable us to buy more supplies for the relief effort on the ground, and help us rebuild in the coming months/years. Thank you all for your love and support. It is keeping us going.