‘In the blink of an eye, it’s gone’: B.C. couple’s Lahaina home destroyed by wildfire

As many are returning to survey damage in the historic town of Lahaina, some Canadians are watching from afar as their homes were destroyed, and family and friends were displaced by wildfire.

In B.C., Ginger and Jason Toth sat outside their Tsawwassen home recalling the moments they found out their dream home was among those swept away by the flames.

“One end to another end is gone. And then, we get a photo and my son’s like, ‘Where is that?’ And I was like, ‘That’s our house, that’s our home, that’s our community,'” Jason recalled, speaking through tears.

Ginger’s family has ties to Lahaina. She says they’ve been there for decades, with visits to the Hawaiian town a trip staple for years.

In between all the vacations, Ginger and Jason knew Lahaina was where they eventually wanted to be permanently.

“We followed a dream, we wanted to live there,” she told CityNews.

The couple sold everything and rejigged their life to buy their first property in the Maui community. They spent years splitting their time between B.C. and Hawaii, with money they made going toward those much-anticipated trips.

Years later, in 2020, the Toths finally bought into a gated community they had dreamed of.

“It is really magical,” Ginger recalled, noting she’d spent a lot of time there with relatives.

“On my birthday, we put the offer in, and then the world shuts down a few weeks later,” Jason added, pointing out the pandemic hit, leaving the couple worrying about whether they’d be able to rent the property out when they weren’t living in it.

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But things worked out, with the family figuring out a way to keep both homes in Hawaii and B.C. — though at times it was “a stretch” that required a lot of “hustle.”

Ginger says the Lahaina property wasn’t just a vacation home — it was supposed to be a future where she and Jason could move permanently with their kids.

All that changed this week.

“In the blink of an eye, it’s gone, and it’s really, it’s scary for us because, how do you replace a whole town? You can’t replace a whole town in a year, in two years, it’s over,” the mother of two told CityNews, her voice shaking.

Wildfire wreckage is seen Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Canadians returning from Maui have told of harrowing scenes before their escape from the fire-devastated Hawaiian island. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Rick Bowmer

The magnitude of the situation isn’t just isolated to what the Toths have lost, either.

The wildfires have also forced many of the family’s friends and loved ones from their own homes, with flames also destroying businesses and livelihoods.

“All the information we’re getting is it’s just getting worse … and now the humanitarian part of it — everyone lost everything that they had,” Jason explained, pointing out shelters and emergency supports are also being overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in need.

Then there are the deaths. As of Friday afternoon, officials in Maui confirmed the wildfire death toll rose to 67.

“Every text, every phone call, everything … and everyone is just trying to piece this thing together. But it’s just, we’re afraid that this is the beginning of the bad and everyone’s just been through so much already,” Jason said. 

“And then when the dust settles, you’ve got to pick up all the pieces and figure out how to start again,” added Ginger. “The level of devastation and the sorrow and the heartbreak just keeps on pouring out, and it’s so hard to wrap our heads around.”

Jason admits there’s also guilt, noting what he and his family have lost doesn’t compare to what many others are facing right now.

“You’re talking thousands of miles, everything gone,” Jason said of the scale of destruction. “It would be like the North Shore of Vancouver being just completely wiped out. It’s just unimaginable.”

The destruction of homes isn’t the only thing the wildfires have left behind.

According to the state, Lahaina — once known as Lele, meaning “relentless sun” — was once the first capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii in the 19th century. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Images of the community now show most of it turned to rubble, with iconic banyan trees transformed into dark ashen silhouettes.

The wildfires that have swept across parts of Hawaii are the state’s deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 on the Big Island, prompted the development of the territory-wide emergency system that includes sirens, which are sounded monthly to test their readiness.

However, despite the magnitude of the destruction left behind, many survivors of the fire said in interviews with The Associated Press that they didn’t hear any sirens or receive a warning that gave them enough time to prepare, realizing they were in danger only when they saw flames or heard explosions nearby.

Hawaii emergency management records show no indication that warning sirens sounded before people had to run for their lives. Instead, officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations — but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.

What comes next

Just like many others, the Toths are now left to figure out what their next steps are.

Their home was insured and rebuilding is an option — but the financial impact of the whole situation is not one to be overlooked.

Ginger and Jason say the question is “how long can we last?” given the lack of rental income to help pay for the secondary home.

The family was still in the middle of paying off the mortgage on the Lahaina home, in addition to paying for their home in Tsawwassen amid higher interest rates.

Jason says they also don’t qualify for support through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), adding their application was denied.

The couple is encouraging those who are able to to make donations to support the people displaced by the Maui wildfires. The Toths have also set up a GoFundMe to support relatives and friends.

“The displacement of the families and the friends and the community — it’s not going to be the same. They’re going to have the sorrow there for years to come, and the trauma,” said Ginger.

-With files from The Associated Press