'It's all gone': Former Wildwood resident shares horror of wildfires burning his Lahaina home
PHILADELPHIA - Wildfires have been torching the historic town of Lahaina, Hawaii for days, wiping it to rubble. 67 people are confirmed dead and 1,000 are reported missing. One local family is trying to help their family impacted in Hawaii.
Devastation that’s hard to comprehend for Wildwood native Linda Tomlin. Her younger brother, niece and nephew lost everything in the wildfires.
"To lose everything just so sudden. It just seems like they didn’t even have any warning," Tomlin said.
Her brother, Ed Borneman, moved to Maui 23 years ago, from Wildwood. He joined his sister in a Zoom call after evacuating to Napili, about 15 minutes north of Lahaina, where his home once stood and where the wildfires rage on.
"Me and my neighbors, we all work in the resort area. We’re all neighbors, we’re all friends. It’s a tight-knit community and it’s all gone," Borneman explained. "We lost everything. My whole neighborhood lost everything. Lahaina is gone."
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Borneman, his wife and two kids tell FOX 29 they left their home with little notice. "I don’t know how else to put it. It was like a movie scene."
They managed to grab only a few possessions, "I saw some smoke and told my wife, ‘Hey pack a bag.’ It moved closer and the winds were relentless. We just threw some stuff in the car and left. That was it."
The Wildwood native, clearly emotional, said despite how much they’ve lost, he feels blessed to be alive with his family. "What’s next for me? I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. I just hope we can get things back. It’s gonna take time."
Meanwhile, back home, as many families across the area work to get in touch with loved ones on the island, others are working with agencies like AAA to figure out their plans for pre-arranged travel to Hawaii.
"AAA always advises travelers, no matter where you’re going, in these types of dire situations, to heed the advice and the recommendations of local officials," AAA spokesperson, Jana Tidwell, said.
She added travelers should be mindful of the dire situation and be prepared to pivot plans, "Travelers should be mindful of changes that are out there. If you’ve purchased insurance, you will want to contact that provider immediately and understand what is in your policy, what you’re able to do or not do, under the policy."
Anyone wishing to help the Borneman family can do so at their GoFundMe page, here.
Anyone wishing to contribute to victims in Hawaii through the Red Cross, can do so, here.