The death toll from Maui wildfires has reached 114 as a woman who thought she had lost everything shared how she was reunited with a treasured photo.
News of the latest death toll was announced on Saturday. About 1,000 people remain missing – and on Friday spoke to officials who said they expect the final figure to be around 500 people killed.
Aubrey Vailoces, 36, said she believed all of her belongings went up in flames after learning last week that her Maui home had been leveled. The worst thing for her was the loss of a family photo album.
While she mourned the aftermath of the inferno along with the rest of the island, she was stunned when she received a Facebook message after someone found a beloved photo of Vailoces’ 2003 high school graduation on Lanai — a two-hour boat ride from Maui had.
The image had somehow floated to the island’s shoreline as the unprecedented wildfires burned the city of Lahaina to the ground. It was very special for Vailoces as it was her last with her late great-grandmother who raised her.
“She always has this way of telling me everything will be fine,” Vailoces told the Washington Post. “I think that was her light in all of this.”
Aubrey Vailoces (center) was reunited with a treasured photo of her great-grandmother at her 2003 high school reunion after incredibly surviving the Maui wildfires and washing up on an island two hours away
Vailoces and her family were among tens of thousands evacuated from Maui and say they plan to rebuild their burned home once the dust settles over the disaster
The devastating wildfires burned over 2,200 buildings in the city of Lahaina, and questions have been raised as to whether Hawaiian Electric — the island’s main electric utility — received prior warning of the potential fires before the fires broke out.
For Vailoces and thousands like her, the flames devastated their homes and saddened them after they lost nearly all their worldly possessions.
She said she gave her three daughters good luck charms for breakfast on the morning of Aug. 8 when a fire broke out near her home in Lahaina.
That morning, she challenged her six-year-old twin daughters to play outside, but they refused because it was too windy. At the same time, gusts from Hurricane Dora fanned the flames just a few miles away.
At 2 p.m., Vailoces said she was breastfeeding her baby daughter when she looked outside and saw the sky was filled with black smoke. Moments later, the fire alarms went off and her home was engulfed in smog.
She and her husband took their daughters away without time to gather belongings other than a stroller and some clothes, and Vailoces said the drive from home was marked by the sounds of propane tanks and exploding cars.
Stunning images taken days later, after the dust had settled, showed Lahaina’s streets were littered with the burned-out remains of cars and buildings.
The 36-year-old was forced to beg locals for essentials like diapers and toilet paper as she and her family were left with nothing due to the unprecedented fires
Cars and buildings marked with an “X” can be seen across the city, indicating they have been searched, but hundreds more remain to be inspected
As the dust settles on the tragedy, revealing dozens of burned buildings and charred remains, questions are being raised about Hawaii’s wildfire emergency preparedness
After spending several hours in an emergency shelter, Valiloces and her family joined the approximately 2,000 people evacuated from Maui each day in the days following the fires.
The next morning, a neighbor told her her house had burned down and the family was forced to go to the locals for diapers, clothes and toilet paper.
In a surprising twist of fate, Vailoces received some rare good news from the scorched island when she was sent an unexpected message on Facebook. Someone on Lanai, a two-hour boat ride from Vailoces’ home, had picked up her half-scorched photo from her graduation.
“When I saw this picture, it meant so much to me to know that at least something survived,” she said, adding that her grandmother’s memory of the picture will help her through the difficult moments when they plan to save her eventually rebuild the house.
“Even though all is lost, there is still hope,” she said.
Vailoces said that on the day the wildfires broke out, she was breastfeeding her baby daughter when she looked outside and saw the sky filled with black smoke. Moments later, their house was destroyed by the fires
Searches in Lahaina continue as hope dwindles of finding survivors — around 1,300 people remain missing
Investigators are still combing through the debris in Lahaina, and officials said Friday night they searched about 58 percent of the affected area.
However, according to the New York Times, the state’s largest electric utility, Hawaii Electric, has known for years that extreme weather events were escalating but did little to upgrade its equipment.
The company has also been accused of failing to implement contingency plans used by other providers, such as cutting power when there is a risk of fire.
Some local officials had already sounded the alarm about the disruption, and parts of Hawaii Electric’s operations were reportedly showing signs of stress even before the fires.
Dramatic footage captured the moment that may have started one of Maui’s wildfires, where a power line that went down during a storm may have been the cause of the tragedy.
Video captured at the Maui Bird Conservation Center near Makawao appears to show a bright flash in the forest just as ten sensors registered a significant incident on Hawaiian Electric’s power grid on Aug. 7.
Whisker Labs, a company that uses a sensor network to monitor power grids across the United States, told the Washington Post that the bright light is likely an “arc flash” that occurs when a power line “fails.”
At least 2,200 buildings have been leveled across Lahaina, and the horrors of residents’ desperate escape from the fires are evident from the scores of charred cars lining the shoreline
Most of the bodies recovered were burned beyond recognition and authorities are now asking friends and family of the missing persons to submit their DNA so the remains of their loved ones can be identified
Nine victims have been identified, including a family of four.
Franklin Trejos, 68, Carole Hartley, 60, Buddy Jantoc, 79, and Robert Dyckman, 74, were all victims of the Lahaina fire.
Faaso and Malui Fonua Tone, Salote Takafua and their son Tony Takafua also passed away.
The question now is how well the authorities were prepared for the disaster, even though the island has been exposed to natural hazards such as tsunamis, earthquakes and violent storms.
Named victims of Maui wildfires
Franklin Trejos, 68
Mr Trejos died August 8 in the historic town of Lahaina, his girlfriend Shannon Weber-Bogar confirmed to ABC News.
Originally from Costa Rica, he lived with Weber-Bogar and her husband Geoff Bogar in their home on Maui for several years.
Franklin “Frankie” Trejos, 68, died trying to house Sam, a golden retriever. Both were found dead in a car
Carole Hartley, 60
Ms. Hartley died in Lahaina on Aug. 8, her sister, Donna Hartley, told ABC News.
Her body was found on her property by her longtime partner Charles. The couple were separated while trying to escape the flames, Donna said.
Carole Hartley, 60, of Alabama, was among the first people to die in the wildfires
Buddy Jantoc, 79
Mr. Jantoc was among those killed in the wildfire, the Maui County and Maui Police Department confirmed.
Jantoc’s granddaughter, Keshia Alakai, told ABC News that he lives in Hale Mahaolu Eono, a senior living complex, but is very independent and can still drive. For Jantoc, “his family and his music were everything,” Alakai said.
Maui County officials said 79-year-old Buddy Jantoc (pictured, center), a Lahaina resident, was among the dead
Robert Dyckman, 74
Mr. Dyckman was also killed in the wildfire, Maui County and the Maui Police Department confirmed.
Family of four: Faaso and Malui Fonua Tone, Salote Takafua and their son Tony Takafua
A family of four – Faaso and Malui Fonua Tone, Salote Takafua and their son Tony Takafua – died trying to flee the blaze. Her remains were found in a burned car near her home on Thursday.
Also killed were Faaso and Malui’s adult daughter Salote Takafua and her son Tony
Faaso and Malui Fonua Tone were found dead in their car Thursday while trying to escape the wildfire that destroyed virtually all of Lahaina