Hawaii wildfire victims made it just blocks before becoming trapped by flames, report says

HONOLULU (AP) — The wind pushed flames from house to house as a group of neighbors tried to escape their blazing subdivision, abandoning their cars in a blocked road and running to an industrial outbuilding for safety. All six perished just blocks from their homes.

The group, including an 11-year-old and his parents, was among the victims whose desperate attempts to escape the Lahaina wildfire were detailed for the first time in a report released Friday. The investigation by the Fire Safety Research Institute for the Hawaii attorney general’s office delved into the conditions that fed the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century and the attempts to stop its spread and evacuate the town's residents.

It found “no evidence” of Hawaii officials making preparations for the wildfire, despite days of warnings that critical fire weather was coming, and that the lack of planning hindered efforts to evacuate Lahaina before it burned.

At least 102 people died in the Aug. 8, 2023, wildfire that was fueled by bone-dry conditions and strong winds from a hurricane passing to Maui's south.

Joseph Lara, 86, was found outside his purple 2003 Ford Ranger pickup truck at the parking structure of an outlet mall and “could have been trying to go north on Front Street before he was stuck in traffic,” according to the report.

His daughter told The Associated Press on Friday that she tries not to think about how he might still be alive if he had taken a different turn to escape.

“He was alone. He didn’t have anyone to tell him he should go here, here, here," Misty Lara said. “I can’t fathom what his final thoughts were."

The report is a reminder of the trauma experienced by the roughly 17,000 people who survived by driving through fire and blinding smoke, outrunning the flames on foot or bike or huddling in the ocean behind a seawall for hours as propane tanks and car batteries exploded around them.

“I grew up in Lahaina and like many in that community, I lost family on Aug. 8,” said Deputy Attorney General Ciara Kahahane. “Through my involvement in this investigation, I tried to humbly serve as a voice for you, the people of Lahaina.”

More than 60% of the victims tried to flee, with many discovered inside or outside their cars or huddled against the seawall. Nearly 80% of the fatalities were in the central part of Lahaina, where the fire flared and spread quickly in the afternoon, allowing little time to evacuate.

Many were stuck in traffic jams created by downed power poles, accidents, traffic signals that weren't working and poor visibility. Some back roads that could have provided an alternative escape were blocked by locked gates.

For those who were evacuating, the distance between their home and the locations where they were recovered was on average 800 feet (244 meters), according to the report.

One couple was found in their car after turning onto a dead-end street in the chaos, with the flames behind them boxing them in. A man found huddled in the entranceway of a house had abandoned his car, presumably to seek refuge from the heat and smoke. Others took refuge alone in fast food restaurants or furniture stores.

Lahaina’s already-deteriorating infrastructure complicated evacuation efforts, the report found. Extended-family living arrangements meant households had multiple vehicles, parked on crowded, narrow streets, which created bottlenecks during the evacuations and blocked fire hydrants.

One road, Kuhua Street, tallied the most fatalities: More than two dozen victims were found on or near the narrow stretch of road that was the only path to safety for many in the densely populated neighborhood.

It was the same street where the report noted a firetruck was overtaken by flames and a company of firefighters nearly lost their lives. And it was the same street where a car accident trapped 10 people whose bodies were found in or around cars.

Joseph Schilling, 67, was found next to a fence on Kuhua Street, less than half a mile (800 meters) from the retirement complex where he lived. Emergency dispatchers had already tried to help multiple people who called 911 to report that the road was becoming impassable.

Six other residents of the independent-living complex who didn't evacuate died inside their apartments. Their average age was 86.

Some older people did try to evacuate, even without reliable transportation.

Claudette Heermance, 68, called 911 to ask what to do and dispatchers told her to evacuate. She left her senior housing complex on a motorized scooter, but it ran out of power as the flames advanced, according to an autopsy report released after her death.

Badly burned, she stayed in hospice for seven months until she died in March.

She was the 102nd — and final — victim to be identified.

Lauer reported from Philadelphia.

Hawaii Deputy Attorney General Ciara Kahahane, who grew up in Lahaina, discusses a wildfire investigation during a news conference in Honolulu on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Jennifer Sinco Kelleher)

FILE - Briena Mae Rabang, 10, holds the ashes of her great-grandmother Sharlene Rabang, who was named as the 100th victim of the Lahaina wildfire, while posing for a photo with her father Branden, left, and grandfather Brandon, right, Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, in Kahului, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

FILE - JP Mayoga, right, a chef at the Westin Maui, Kaanapali, and his wife, Makalea Ahhee, hug on their balcony at the hotel and resort, Sunday, Aug. 13, 2023, near Lahaina, Hawaii. About 200 employees were living there with their families. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Rays of sunlight pierce through the clouds, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, above homes burned by wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

FILE - Photos of victims are displayed under white crosses at a memorial for victims of the August 2023 wildfire, above the Lahaina Bypass highway, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

On Saturday, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters: “At this point, we can only say for sure that the perpetrator was evidently Islamophobic – we can confirm that. Everything else is a matter for further investigation and we have to wait.”

A German-based organization called Athiest Refugee Relief said the alleged attacker was not a part of the group and claimed that he made “numerous accusations and claims” against it and former board members, which it said were false.

“We distance ourselves from him in the strongest terms," the group said in a statement on its website, adding that members of Atheist Refugee Relief filed a criminal complaint against him in 2019 following “the most foul slander and verbal attacks."

An image taken from a video shows police officers arresting a suspect after car drove into a crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, Friday Dec. 20, 2024. (TNN/DPA via AP)

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)