Christy Albinson still has nightmares. The nightmares of children are the worst, she says, nearly a month after the tragic Lahaina wildfire in Hawaii.
“I’ve been traumatized. My dreams have been pretty whacko. They’re horrible—children buried in the sand. I’m spooked,” said Ms. Albinson said.
And when the panic attacks strike without warning, it’s all she can do to remain calm.
Sometimes, the question crosses her mind: Why did she survive when so many others died?
It isn’t so much survivor’s guilt as a simmering anger—a feeling that the outcome could have been different for so many if emergency management officials had responded differently.
All Ms. Albinson, 47, knows is that people who stayed in their vehicles in traffic perished in the smoke and flames.
“They were driving to their deaths, basically. I acknowledged I was in control of my choices and needed to not listen to the police,” Ms. Albinson told The Epoch Times.
“I recognized I would have to go around the barriers and do what it took because this was my life. I have grandchildren; I needed to get to my family.”
Several other Lahaina residents and workers told The Epoch Times that they survived only by driving around or through the police roadblocks, acknowledging that the police were just “following orders.”
“Common sense,” said Grale, a West Maui resident who was working at a gated community in Lahaina on the day of the fire.
“Me? I’m in panic mode. I’m getting the heck out of here. Survival mode. Honestly, I couldn’t believe how many cars on Front Street just burned.”
The Lahaina fire burned 2,170 acres and more than 2,000 homes and buildings in this historic coastal community with a population of 13,120.
The scenic oceanside Front Street serves as the town’s main street and connector to the Lahaina highway bypass to and from the community.
Multiple Fires
Officials believe that the first fire began in the brush around Lahaina after midnight on Aug. 8, causing sporadic power outages and two other large fires inland.
By Allan Stein
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