Canadians flying back from Maui on Air Canada ‘ferry’ flights share wildfire horrors

Canadian tourists in Maui are being asked to leave the Hawaiian island due to devastating wildfires and hurricanes, which have killed more than 50 people and continue to hit the U.S. Pacific state.

In an email to CityNews, Air Canada says a Tuesday night flight from Maui to Vancouver was cancelled as access to the Kahului airport was closed.

“Last night, we operated an evening flight with a larger aircraft, a 298-seat Dreamliner, where normally we fly a 169-seat Boeing 737. The Dreamliner flight flew down empty, what we call a ferry flight, and is coming back full this morning to Vancouver.

This graphic shows the location of fires on the island of Maui, Hawaii, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. Several thousand Hawaii residents raced to escape homes on Maui as the Lahaina fire swept across the island, killing multiple people and burning parts of a centuries-old town. (AP Photo)

“That flight is expected to arrive at YVR around 9 am local time. We plan a second such ferry flight this evening, to return tomorrow morning with passengers,” the airline said.

Arriving at YVR on Thursday, East Vancouver resident Chloe Clear told CityNews the situation doesn’t seem real. She went to Maui to visit a friend and recalls being in a bar Monday evening when alarms started going off.

“It just went off. It’s a bit like the Amber ALERT that comes here. All over the TV screens, they started to say ‘evacuate’ and we were like, ‘Wait, where do we go? Who’s evacuating?’ We’re on an island. Where do you go to? Like, there’s nowhere to go — the planes were all canceled at that time,” she explained.

“It’s really, really sad. My friend who lived in Kihei was evacuated. Obviously a lot of people have just lost their homes. It’s really, really, really tragic.”

“The airport was very, very busy. I’m very grateful I managed to get on my flight,” Clear said of the Air Canada ferry flight, adding, “I’m just sending love to everybody that’s been completely shaken up.”

Clear explains that hurricane-force winds were the factor that seemed to shift the fire from initially being manageable to one that quickly became out of control.

She says her friend’s home was also evacuated.

“Police came around to her door I think after her shift at 10 p.m. and she was up all night trying to find somewhere to go. Other people were evacuated to schools and then the schools were evacuated. I was told that people jumped in the water to get away from the fire — like it was as bad,” she said.

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Moving forward, Air Canada says it has daily flights between Maui and Vancouver scheduled. However, it adds it is continuing to “monitor the Maui situation very closely.”

“Air Canada has put in place a flexible goodwill policy for passengers travelling to/from Maui,” the airline explained.

Thousands of Hawaii residents raced to escape homes on Maui as fires swept across the island, destroying parts of a centuries-old town and killing at least 53 people in one of the deadliest U.S. wildfires in recent years.

The blaze took the island by surprise, leaving behind burned-out cars on once-busy streets and smoking piles of rubble where historic buildings had stood in Lahaina Town, which dates back to the 1700s and was once the royal residence of King Kamehameha III, who unified Hawaii under a single kingdom.

Hawaii resident says wildfires have left ‘an apocalyptic scene’

Former Vancouver resident Damian Balinowski now lives on Oahu. He tells CityNews the whole state of Hawaii is in “shock.”

“It’s utter shock. For myself, watching the images of Lahaina Town and other parts of Maui is just honestly shocking. It’s shocking to see [the] places that many, many tourists have visited, just literally destroyed. It’s an apocalyptic scene,” he said.

Balinowski explains century-old banyan trees and historical buildings in the town that was once the home of the Kingdom of Hawaii have been destroyed.

“Hearing the stories from people. It is just unbelievable,” he said.

But Balinowski says the people of Hawaii are banding together through the devastation.

“People are pulling together, as is the case here in Hawaii, and they are helping each other as best they can. Businesses are stepping up where they can,” he explained. “It’s known as the ‘Aloha Spirit.'”

-With files from Mike Lloyd and The Associated Press