HONOLULU (KHON2) — Evacuation orders on Maui for a brush fire in Paia have been lifted. Crews are still working to put out the fire, but said they have stopped its progression.
Paia Elementary School parents called the experience traumatic.
Tasha Quenga’s daughter is in fifth grade at Paia Elementary School — mom had to jump into action on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
She was already on her way to campus to shuttle some volleyball players to Makawao, but had to shift gears when she saw flames approaching the school buildings.
“They were kind of hysterical and teachers were doing their best to keep everybody calm, accounted for,” she said, “I get to the school, my husband’s just like, ‘I’m going to get us as far away from this as possible, if the wind shifts, something, you know? And I had other people’s kids in my car, so not only mine, right?”
Four students ended up piling into her vehicle, and she wrote down their names before working with school officials and first responders to make sure everyone was accounted for.
“They’re still crying. They’re calling their parents. They’re crying. It was very traumatizing. Like, even for me as an adult,” Quenga said.
Officials said no structures were damaged and about 300 acres have burned as of 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The Skill Village siren was activated, but evacuation orders were lifted around 6 p.m.
“And we will try and put in what is called an evacuation advisory early on. This one was it was too fast. We went straight to a warning and then to an order. And the importance of it is that if you wait till the last second, then you’ll be on the road with a lot of people,” said Maui Emergency Management Agency deputy director Kono Davis.
Fire containment estimates were not available at last check, but Quenga’s daughter made it to — and played in — their first volleyball game of the school year, safe and sound.