101. Burn Zone (S11: Animals of the Maui Wildfires)

Episode 2/4 Series 11  Animals of The Maui Wildfires Transcript

Welcome to the 101st episode of The Deal with Animals. In the last episode we met five staff members at Maui Humane Society and we learned about the animal community of Maui and their relationship to MHS. Moani, humane resource officer, walked us through the start of her journey into the burn zone of Lahaina to search for animals in need...and her parents.

Please take a moment now and visit Donate to Maui Humane Society
a special joint page set up my MHS in partnership with TDWA to raise money for MHS' continues efforts for the animals of Maui.

Thank you to All the staff of Maui Humane Society for the dedication to the animals of Maui but in particular, thank you to the guests of this series who shared their stories.
Follow the Blog and/or the Newsletter for full bio's and links

• Moani Makaiwi was one of the first animal rescuers on scene during the tragic Lahaina fires. Between her strong family history in Lahaina as a native Hawaiian and her dedication to rescuing animals as a Humane Enforcement Officer, Moani's story is truly one that you will not forget.
• Emily Drose is one of MHS' two Fire Cat Specialists. In this role, she has worked closely with the feeding/trapping team in the burn zone and manages the cats' movement once in the care of MHS.  She was born and raised on Maui, with a background as a large animal veterinary technician, lead emergency vet tech, ( Hawaii's first ) community cat coordinator ,community outreach and humane enforcement.
• Johnny Lingao is Maui Humane Society's Wildfire Community Liaison. In this role, Johnny works directly with displaced Lahaina residents and those affected by the fires to get them what they need to keep their pets, whether that be veterinary care, pet housing deposits, supplies, food, etc.
• Jenny Miller The Director of Development of MHS at the time of the wildfires and my guide around the Maui Humane Society campus in October 2023 
• Katie Shannon worked at Maui Humane Society for 3 years, including Director of Marketing and Communications during the fires in August 2023. Katie's background is in media and marketing strategy
  
  Other Links
  AP News
  Compassion Fatigue
  Greater Good
  Bissell Pet Foundation
  Shelterly

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Show Credits⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you also to John Lasala for his beautiful music and audio engineering on Series 11!

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Transcript

Introduction and Recap

Marika: This is The Deal With Animals. I’m Marika Bell, anthrozoologist, CPDT dog trainer, and an animal myself. Welcome to a podcast about the connection and interaction between humans and other animals. This is Series Eleven, episode two of Animals of the Maui Wildfires.

Marika: In our previous episode of animals of the Maui wildfires, we took a brief stroll through the campus of Maui Humane Society two months after the wildfires in Lahaina with Director of Development Jenny Miller. We discussed the ways in which Maui Humane Society has helped the community of Maui, as well as its sometimes rocky history As a punitive entity and how the current organization is working to change and improve that relationship.

We met some of the animals being helped. And finally we left Moani humane enforcement resource officer, who was one of the first animal rescuers on scene during the Maui wildfires. Early on Wednesday morning, we witnessed the first casualty arriving at MHS. A reflection of the unfolding tragedy. Amidst this, Moani's growing anxiety becomes palpable as she faces an eerie silence from her family.

Last known to be navigating the [00:01:00] congested roads

Before we dive back into her story, let's take a moment to reflect on the whereabouts and actions of Katie, our director of communications and Emily reunification and fire cat specialist right before disaster struck.

Please remember that this content may not be appropriate for all listeners.

First Days

Emily Drose stands at the forefront of reunification efforts. Her journey, however, began outside the MHS team.

[00:01:40] Emily: Basically how I got back with MHS is, you know, fires were, um, August 7th, August 8th. It's still very fresh in my mind.

I wasn't working back with MHS at the time, but I was fortunate enough to be able to have access. on my own as a civilian. In the initial days, [00:02:00] I took a trailer out with my own supplies. I was trying to get whatever animals and people and, and help in any way I could, because it was a very short window.

There was so much back and forth about being allowed access, not allowed, the road is blocked, the community banding together and seeing the true definition of Aloha spirit and just how our culture and how our people respond in a time of crisis. So that in itself really inspired me. To come back to MHS.

I had actually reached out to a lot of friends that still currently work at the organization and I was like, Hey, I've got a small window. I have a trailer. Let me know what I can take out what I can bring back. And it really inspired me. I was like, I need to come back home. I need to come back home and be a part of my team and be a part of this response.

And that's when I was introduced in October because I did take a little break again, post fire, because as you can imagine, the things that we've seen were unspeakable. Yeah. Even to this day, I still can't talk about certain [00:03:00] things, or I still have very vivid nightmares about certain things that we saw.

[00:03:05] Marika: As Director of Communications, Katie Shannon has been the bridge between MHS efforts and the wider world. Though not a Native Hawaiian, she deeply understands the community's need for communication about the search and rescue operations. And the process of reuniting with their beloved companion animals.

Not only does she convey messages to the media, but she also listens to the personal stories shared by both staff and community members.

[00:03:30] Katie Shannon: I think it was really important to hear from the people that are native to Hawaii and native to Maui and to speak to them about what it really meant for them. I'm a transplant here, I am not Native Hawaiian, and so having Lahaina as the original capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom is more than just a place, it's more than just tourism for people coming to visit, it is the roots of the Hawaiian people.

What I really wanted to make sure was that [00:04:00] there was cultural importance placed. On what I was communicating with the media and the only way that I was able to do that was to really understand what this meant to the Hawaiian people. And so we have people that are native to Maui, native to Hawaii as part of our staff.

And so really speaking to them about the impact that it was having on them if they were able to communicate it at all or what they were feeling with their families and housing families, housing animals, trying to get in touch with anyone that they could on that side. You know, I had the benefit of coming home to my partner, my pet and my home every single night.

And so ultimately it was battling survivor skills. And recognizing that virtually nothing had happened to me, you know, I didn't lose somebody close to me. I didn't lose what felt like my heritage [00:05:00] in this. And what I wanted and need people to know is that that is what happened to a lot of these people of Hawaiian culture and Native Hawaiians.

My role was to talk about the animals. And so I needed to ensure that that is what I really focused on when speaking to the media. There's a different way that I spoke to local media versus. National or international media because local media will have an understanding of the importance of Lahaina, whereas national or international media don't even know where Lahaina is in relation to the island and therefore the issues that there were around communication with the fires.

wiping out cell service, there being no electricity available in that area, and why it was so difficult to actually get resources over there. So, you know, there were a lot of nuances about the fires that needed a little bit of understanding from the [00:06:00] person who would be receiving that message that I tried my best to communicate.

But ultimately, you know, bringing it back to the animals and You know, I was okay. So, I knew that my role and what I needed to do during that time was to stay strong for the people that could communicate with me about how difficult it was to see their own friends family. And, I mean, Lahaina was a, is a small town.

It's full of aunties and uncles and grandparents and children. And, you know, it's, it's, it's hard to explain, and especially not as a Native Hawaiian, The impact that it has had and, um, you know, hearing the stories of people surviving the fires Was a whole different experience than just hearing what it was like to be affected by them And so I guess during that time I I needed to I needed to hear everything that I could in order [00:07:00] to effectively communicate the impact that Maui felt during the time.

Moani's Journey Part 2

[00:07:06] Marika: Let's return to Moani's search, setting our scene on August 8th in the early afternoon. This moment marks approximately 24 hours since the onset of the disaster that thrust life into chaos on the island.

[00:07:20] Moani: Well, when I came in the next day, we were on skeleton crew because again, my coworkers. Majority of them live Upcountry, so they have horses, you know, their own pets, their own dogs, their own homes.

So a lot of them got evacuated themselves. So that day we were running on emergencies only, and we were getting constant phone calls from Maui Police Department. You know, asking us like, hey, where are you guys at? You know, hey, this officer or the fire department found, you know, an injured animal. My past, I used to work for my police department.[00:08:00]

I was an 911 dispatcher. And so it was in me like, well, I don't know, you know, I don't know why we're not going in. But I know part of it too, though, because we're a skeleton crew and where we are located, That's why we say we're central, because we can cover the whole island just from that point from our shelter.

So, I was around like 12 ish, and I, now I started to question, because one, I couldn't get a hold of my folks. I couldn't get a hold of anyone in Lahaina via phone. And no one knew that the cell towers were down. And so I had asked my supervisor at that time, and I said, Hey, you know, is there a reason why we're not going in?

It's hard for me to imagine that we don't have many injured animals. So I made some phone calls through, to a few friends from my police department, and they gave me a number for someone up in the county, in the mayor's office. That they were all [00:09:00] working with. So I contacted him. I want to say around two ish.

I just left him a brief message and I said, hey, this is who I am. How can I be of service? Please contact me as soon as possible. About an hour and a half, two hours later, he calls me back. He's asking me like, okay, hey, so you're animal control? I'm like, yes. How can we help? He's like, hey, yeah, we have a bunch of injured animals, you know, out in Lahaina, you know, so how many of you are going in?

At that time, we weren't prepared to send in a crew, not ready to possibly see what Lahaina was.

[00:09:40] Marika: With the approval of her supervisor and the green light from the mayor's office, along with the alarming news from the police, Moani Maki'iwi embarks on a journey to Lahaina. It's almost 24 hours since the fires began, engulfing the town in an unprecedented disaster.

Amidst the chaos, Moani held on to the possibility [00:10:00] that her family might have found safety. But nothing like this had ever happened before. No one was prepared. How could they be?

[00:10:08] Moani: And nobody thought it would ever happen. And I think part of, for me, it was different because I come from law enforcement background.

Like in my position, what can I do? How can I facilitate it? How can I do it safely? And how can I expedite it? You know the injured or the sick, right? and Where am I going? So all those things came into play for me. So I got the green light And my fiance and I so decided that he was going to come with me So because it was the unknown of what  Lahaina looked like or just in general period we didn't know anything But I did know that I wanted to make sure that we Obviously we're gonna go in and if I couldn't find my folks because I just wanted to make sure we had a place So my [00:11:00] fiancee packed our personal truck with camping gear.

We took in like 30 Gallons of water clean water to the generator. We took two pop up tents and We just swiped all the canned soups that we had in our pantry, load up my truck, depending on the severity. If I can continue just, you know, one animal after another, I was just going to load up my truck as much as I could and then just bring them out to the checkpoints.

[00:11:31] Marika: Before departing, Moani and her fiancé Asher visited the shelter and loaded their personal pickup truck with over 2,000 pounds of food, stacking it high. They also filled Moani's work truck with items that could be damaged by embers, such as blankets, pillows, towels, cat litter, and basic medical supplies.

The work truck, being fiberglass, ensured the safety of the items inside.

[00:11:54] Moani: And we left that night, Wednesday night. I think we crossed the checkpoint in [00:12:00] Ma'alaea about 9 p. m. after fueling up and loading up. Yeah, and we drove in. It was one of those things where I, I think once I passed the checkpoint in Ma’alaea, I started to mentally prepare myself.

Because in that moment, when he and I were driving, and as soon as we crossed that checkpoint, I had this overwhelming feeling that came over me. Like, somebody saying, You're meant to be here. You're meant to be in this moment, in this time, in this second. You're Like, it's supposed to be you. And I just felt like it was my kuleana.

Like, it was my responsibility. I think part of it was because I was raised in Lahaina, and it was really personal for me. And also, I'm not gonna lie, [00:13:00] I wanted to find out where my folks were. Because no one had heard from them. So when we drove in that night, I've done camping in many different states. And there's darkness, and then there's darkness.

And that night when we came around the bridge, uh, from Laniopoco, coming into Lanio Poco, the darkness, That night was just so deafening. Like it was so loud. It was as if like, you know, it was just like Screaming at you in a sense and this sense of I want to say it was as if like I could feel the sadness I could feel the sorrow, I could feel the grief, and you could feel the pain.

And coming over the ridge on the Lahaina bypass, before you saw anything, because obviously they [00:14:00] had no electricity, you just saw this orange glow just coming over the ridge. You couldn't even see any stars that night. But it was so still. It amazes me because it was as if like there was no wind when we drove in.

It was just still. And it felt like my vehicle was just cutting through this wall of ash. Of all of that, the pain. As soon as I hit the Oluwalu General Store, it's like the hair on the back of my neck stood up. The hair on my thigh. It was then, being a Kanaka, being from Hawaii. It was as if, like, you know, something in me told me, say a prayer.

Just say a prayer. You know, [00:15:00] just say it. And when we came over the ridge, I just did a prayer of protection and a prayer of entering, entering a space that I knew already of the loss so many, you know, folks that had passed away without even knowing it, if that makes sense. And it was at Stonest when we came over, and then we started to see, you know, Lahaina Town.

You had certain neighborhoods that were still on fire. You had some cars on fire, you had some apartments on fire, still burning, that was five stories. Now, you're looking at it and it's three stories, and it's still burning. And you could hear, Explosion, still, and it was coming from the propane tanks, you know, at least that's what I'm assuming it was coming [00:16:00] from.

And, I just cried. It was one of those moments where I felt like I needed to stop my truck, and like, to take it all in. Cause I knew if I didn't, in that moment, then I would be worthless. I would not be able to do my job, you know, and it was kind of almost like I knew that I had to take in all of those feelings, but yet at the same time express that feelings out at the same time, because I knew that we had animals that needed me.

And we came into Lahaina town and you know, just seeing neighborhood after neighborhood after neighborhood just completely gone and in my head, it's [00:17:00] as if like a movie was running, you know, the old slideshow movies, you know, and It was like, from when I was a kid, like, I could see my aunt and uncle's home, or my aunt and uncle used to live there, and at the same time, it's meshing with my work, because then I'm like, oh, that neighborhood right there, that street, oh my gosh, we have, you know, three hoarders, cat hoarders, so I know there should be over a hundred cats there, like, where are the cats?

But I can't go in, because the power lines are still down, the homes are still on fire, and it's not safe for me to go in. So, I decided at that time that the neighborhoods that had been just completely destroyed, but was still erect next door, that I was going to drive in. Because I'm thinking, you know, these folks just left on a dime.[00:18:00]

And some people weren't even able to go home. They were at work. So in my head, I'm like, okay, we have animals. So I went into the first subdivision, which is Hawaiian Homes. And my mom also lives in that subdivision. So I was driving out of Lahainatau towards Kanapali. And so I stepped into subdivision and all of a sudden, like, I heard a bark and I'm like, what was that?

[00:18:35] Marika: She was greeted by an alarming sight, two homes ablaze, and a dog's distressing bark slicing through the smoky air.

[00:18:44] Moani: So I start whistling. If you know anything about our culture, the Hawaiian culture, you never whistle at night. Never, ever whistle at night. Uh, that's you calling the spirits to you. But [00:19:00] I had no choice, because I needed to know where these animals were at.

Now again, no training, you know, how to work in a disaster like that. I decided that I was going to start from the top of the subdivision, work myself all the way down. And I drove from the top side and I started to whistle and I just started to make noise to see if I could hear any dogs barking at me. I started to see a lot of cats though.

And then I started to hear while driving through the streets, I would hear a dog barking, but I also started to look for the signs that said beware of dogs or you know some. Pet owners have, like, you know, they go and get that sign of their breed of dog. So I could see possibly, hopefully something either on their fence, or on their garage, or near their front door, or the window at the door.

Then what I did was, if the [00:20:00] animals were located inside the residence, I made sure the fire was nowhere near them, and then I placed my business card, my work business card, and I would place it on the garage door, and I would mark it myself to say, hey, you know, I, possibly one animal, two cats seen in the backyard with descriptions, and then go to the next house.

And then the next house. And the next house did the same thing.

[00:20:33] Marika: Moani moved meticulously from house to house. Her eyes scanning for signs of life with every home she assessed. She left her business card affixed to the garage door. It wasn't just a note of visitation, it was a breadcrumb trail ensuring that she would remember which homes harbored animals in need of her return.

In backyards sheltering animals, she left ample provisions. Food, litter boxes, and [00:21:00] buckets of water, all strategically placed in the shade to shield them from the next day's sun. These were lifelines. Sustenance enough for three days. This foresight allowed her to focus her energy on the more dire situations, injured animals who needed her immediate attention.

By ensuring the safety of these backyard residents for at least a few days, Ani could pour her resources into the animals who were injured, knowing that others were cared for in her absence,

[00:21:30] Moani: I had to do something. I had to come up with something. I had started to also feed all the cats. in the cul de sacs, near the mailboxes in the cul de sac.

Because in my head, I'm like, okay, I'm going to start training them because I know we're going to come back and start trapping. But I need to train them on where their food source is going to be.

[00:21:52] Marika: After finishing up, they headed to the police department where they encountered Moani's aunt, who happened to be the police service aide on duty [00:22:00] at the receiving counter that night.

Surprised to see each other, she explained that they were there to help the animals and displaced owners. She wanted anyone from the department who needed her help to know her whereabouts. Since cell communication was down, she and Asher were relying only on their police radio with limited battery. She assured her aunt she'd be back around 7 a.

m. Turning on her radio at 6 a. m. to stay in touch. She was going to search for her parents, who she hoped had made it to the hotel where her father worked outside downtown Lahaina.

[00:22:32] Moani: So I drove out to Napili, now looking for my folks. In complete darkness. There was absolutely no electricity at all outside of Lahaina at all.

You know, from behind the downtown.

[00:22:44] Marika: Upon arriving at the hotel, her hopes were realized.

[00:22:48] Moani: My dad said he just, you know, started to drive on sidewalks to get out of the traffic. And so we ended up, we stayed with them. Asher and I just slept on their balcony with our air [00:23:00] mattress. And then, yeah, MPD knew exactly where I was at.

That actually, that night. An officer came and knocked on the door and because I was out on the lanai I didn't hear the door So my dad woke up and you know, he's like, hey, you know, um, there's a cop here for you and i'm like What? You know?

[00:23:22] And I was like, Oh, yeah. 

Marika:Her parents were safe, providing Moani a sanctuary as she prepared for the day ahead.

With the dawn, the real journey began. She ventured into the burn zone, determined to find and rescue any animals that were injured or lost amidst the still burning chaos.

[00:23:42] Moani: When you think about it, Lahaina Town itself as a whole, downtown Lahaina, was touched. Anything outside past Ka’anapali was untouched.

It was just the immediate downtown Lahaina town.

[00:23:58] Marika: The next day, they had [00:24:00] full access to the burn zone. Having worked for the police department previously, dispatch recognized them. They also knew firefighters from Lahaina, including her cousin, who was the fire captain in Napili. Familiar with Moani's work truck, these contacts provided valuable assistance.

Her cousin instructed his team to guide her based on landmarks Moani would recognize, as many street signs were now missing. Even tanker truck drivers from the fire department would stop to provide directions using familiar landmarks like old restaurants, aiding Moani in locating distressed animals.

[00:24:33] Moani: So in my head, I knew exactly where I needed to drive, and I knew exactly which direction I needed to face.

in order to look for this animal. They would just tell me like, hey, just stay on our tire tracks and you'll be fine. If we see the tire tracks going down one of the small streets all the way in, oh, you're good. You can drive in there. But if you don't see our tire tracks, don't go in there yet. We haven't been down there.

I'm like, okay,

[00:24:59] Marika: as Moani [00:25:00] describes the regions beyond and within the burn zone, I'm taken back to my own visit to Maui. Although access to the area was restricted, even from the freeway, the site of the burn zone was overwhelmingly evident witnessing it. You're enveloped by a deep visceral reaction, a tightness in your chest.

A pang of empathy for the land and the people that lived and died there. Observing the burn zone, the erratic path of the fire becomes apparent. Driven by shifting winds, it created a mosaic of fate, indiscriminately sparing some homes while devouring others. This wasn't a uniform onslaught. It was a multitude of fiery barriers forming a labyrinth.

[00:25:48] Moani: You know, the first responders also, I don't want to say reminding me, it was more of a, Hey, you do understand, right? There's lives that have been lost. [00:26:00] And you do understand that what you're about to see, while trying to do your job… and I'm like, no, I I'm fully aware and I, you know, I, I understand. I understand the implications.

I understand in that moment I knew that I had a job to do. I was gonna see things that normally an animal control officer doesn't see…or hear, you know, and Here I went down to Lahaina Front Street. Before recovery, in that moment, it was still about, you know, protecting, you know, homes and trying to find anyone or any animal that was alive.

So,I think, if you ask me, would I do it again, yeah, I would hands down do it again. I'd do it a hundred [00:27:00] times over and then some. But at the same time, you know, that day, the first few days, If I was miked, you probably would have heard me continuously just saying, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, while chasing after an animal.

On foot, thinking that my soles of my shoes are going to melt into the pavement because cars have completely melted into the pavement. It's hot, extremely hot. I'm sweating by the time I open my door. You can feel the heat off of the metal or the rock walls or the road. Everything around you, you just thought, you know, I thought my truck tires were going to melt and I was going to be stuck there and I was going to be on foot.

And then, you know, you have part of the why. I said that a lot too. Why? [00:28:00]

[00:28:00] Marika: After hearing some of these heart wrenching stories from both Moani and Emily's time in the burn zone, it made me wonder, did Emily ever regret her decision? Or perhaps she wished the authorities had imposed stricter controls on access to the burn zone, even in those first critical days.

[00:28:17] Emily: I think in all, um, I'm glad I was let in. I regret not preparing myself, because I don't think any of us truly understood what we were walking into, because we have wildfires all the time here, and we've been so lucky that our fire department has It's been able to get them under control, but they literally had to watch their homes burn while trying to fight a massive fire and to keep in mind too, there was hurricane force winds going on with a fire spreading it and there were multiple fires all over the island.

Kula was also on fire. There's still also a lot of residents displaced in Kula that everybody kind of forgot about. I regret not preparing myself, [00:29:00] but in all, I don't regret going. I'm glad I was able to help in the way that I was. And even though as traumatic as it was, see the things that I saw, because it really just shifts everything into perspective, how good life is, like the struggle we've, we face here in Hawaii, the cost of living, any little thing that was on my mind and stressing me out at that time, didn't matter.

It was, it was beautiful to see when we were allowed in with all the supplies. So like me personally, I had posted my Venmo and my PayPal on my social media. And I was like, look, I have a short window I'm allowed in. If you can donate anything, I'm going to Costco. Help me out. And I wasn't expecting to get the response I got.

I think I got close to 3, 000 and I loaded up on, um, non perishable food, baby wipes, baby formula. There were women, like I had to think like as a woman, if I was just out here and completely displaced tomorrow, like what would I need to go camping and maintain myself for the next few [00:30:00] months? So it was water, non perishables, baby food, baby formula, hygiene products.

It was things for kids, like books. It was clothes. It was blankets, like toothbrush, toothpaste. Like. Trailers full of just everyday supplies. And this is what sticks to me, like even to this day and what makes me so proud of our community. And again, I'm going to try not to cry, but I remember the first few days going in and the people we would encounter.

And we have what we called Kanaka Costcos, right? So like, there would be this makeshift camp, like, at multiple beaches and parks where people were walking miles just to get clean water, or to get flashlights, or to get any kind of sustenance because they were either in the perimeter or in the burn zone, or their vehicle burnt down, and it just, Inconceivable.

And people were walking to these camps to get help. And I remember the first few camps, like seeing the way that our community responded and had organized like [00:31:00] supplies for keiki, supplies for kupuna, food, toiletries, and seeing like at all the, even on this part of the island, like some of the gymnasiums that were used and set up in the churches, like we had a hard handing out supplies because every single person that we encountered.

Was thinking about the next person. See, I'm going to cry now. Now I'm going to lose it. I remember specifically one man we encountered walking and we were like, Oh, how's it brought up? Like, where are you going? Can we give you a ride? What do you need? He was shirtless. He was sweaty. He was barefoot. He's like, I'm good.

He's like, I have four bottles of water, but please go check on the next camp because they might not have like, and to just put that into perspective, like being fully content with just four bottles of water while I'm complaining about work emails or something sold. minuscule, like in the grand scheme of things.

And to think just to have, that's all you have is just your shorts and four bottles of water. And you're still telling me to go check on the next person. Like [00:32:00] that's specific to us and our culture and who we are and what Aloha spirit is. And I'll never forget it. I just, I can't put it into words, the, the way our people love each other and care for each other.

And what I saw out there, it made it a thousand times worth it. Any horrible thing I saw or encountered those moments and our people and. I just, I would do it all over again. If I had the choice, I absolutely would. And I would go full throttle. I would go harder.

Yeah.

And it was so like, even when the road was blocked, like our people did not stop.

People were going by boat and by plane and on jet ski and any way we could to get to our people, like, I'm sure. Hundreds of people, thousands of people have seen these videos, that was real, where we were all lined up in a line on the beach, at the harbors, at Honolulu Bay, on jet skis and boats, walking supplies [00:33:00] in, because we were saying, like, we're not going to leave anybody behind.

Under any circumstances, if we are not allowed in, we respect that there are deceased, we respect that there's a job to do, but we are not going to forget about those who are still out there. And I am so proud to be born and raised here and to be Hawaiian and be that example for the world. Like, this is what it looks like.

This is what you should do regardless of anything that's going on. There's no excuse. Like, that's how you should respond.

It was just beautiful and that's specific to aloha spirit. That's what I want the world to know, like, the aloha spirit is not just this romanticized idea by the tourism industry. It's, it's our people. It's, it's who we are. It's how we live. And again, it inspired the whole world. We were We were getting support and letters and donations from all over the world, Japan, New Zealand, Russia.

It was, it was insane. [00:34:00] The amount of support and response we got in every person I talked to, it was like, it's because of you. And even. Just out in the community, right, like you're seeing families eating out at restaurants, and you can just, you can feel it, you can tell who the displaced families were, and you hear them talking on the phone, and like, finally getting phone calls days after, like, oh my god, like, Uncle Kavika's okay, like, he made it up to the valley, or like, I found so and so, or like Auntie Rina is here, and, or this person's in the hospital, and you're watching this all unfold.

In the community and people are paying for family's lunches and it's just, it's, I really wish like I was able to capture that initial response in our community and just show the world. Like, this is who we are. This is what we do. And we didn't think twice about it. It's just how we were raised, this community raised us, and it's our kuleana to give back and to serve.

And this is our land [00:35:00] and our home, and we are Indigenous people to this land. And it's our responsibility to care for one another, both residents and visitors, that were caught in this horrible, horrible situation. 

Coordinated Efforts

[00:35:13] Marika: Let's shift our focus from the staff's narrative for a time and highlight the concerted efforts made during those early days. It was an era of solidarity where numerous organizations stepped forward to support the team at MHS initiating rescue and recovery operations. Here is Jenny again. To highlight a few of those groups,

[00:35:44] Jenny: what was cool was greater good came to our assistance in conjunction with Southwest Airlines immediately after the fire and transferred 100 animals out of the shelter to the mainland, to the Portland area in Northern California.

I don't know what we would [00:36:00] have done otherwise. Um, so that was, that was a huge help. So we immediately got freed up space and then immediately filled it.

[00:36:07] Marika: Greater Good is an organization that through the sale of online products and other services raises money to help as they put it, people, pets, and the planet.

And of course, we all know Southwest Airlines. It was a life saving collaboration.

[00:36:23] Jenny: We, we were so grateful for the support that we received right off the bat. We had Bissell Pet Foundation. They sent their animal rescue guy, his name is Eric Thompson, he runs Animal Incident Management and ASAR, which is Animal Search and Rescue, such a professional.

He came in and basically led the response and led the team. He brought in a bunch of other organizations, the Arizona Humane Society Disaster Response Team, the San Diego Disaster Response Team. The ASPCA response team, we had HSUS and IFAR helping with administrative and data [00:37:00] stuff. And he brought in a guy named Trevor, who is a human search and rescue guy from California.

He started a software program called Shelterly. And Shelterly is used specifically to manage animals during evacuations and emergencies.

[00:37:17] Marika: And it wasn't just big organizations helping out.

[00:37:21] Jenny: Hawaii holds a very special place for a lot of people. A lot of people have vacationed here. They've had life events here, got married and stuff like that.

And it's such a beautiful place. I think that the whole world, it got the whole world's attention. Um, I'm not sure that, you know, some other random place. Would have had the kind of outpouring of love that we've received here.

[00:37:43] Marika: Um, Maui does hold a special place in the hearts of many, myself included. But what makes Maui truly remarkable is the people who choose to be there and help when others could not.

Let's delve into community liaison, [00:38:00] Johnny Lingao's story, unravel how his journey to Maui unfolded and discover the impact of his decision to contribute during this time of confusion.

[00:38:10] Johnny: I flew over with a one way ticket with a check in bag full of donations for the animals and thinking I would fly back to California in five days and serendipity, intuition, everything just came into play.

Where the more I was involved, the more I felt called to stay. And it even went to a point where the one, I think when I hit like maybe like the sixth or seventh day mark when I was volunteering, you know, I, I didn't want to pay for like a rental car. I, I wasn't really thinking I was going to continue paying for like a hotel or a stay.

And my, my, my friends who were involved in the fire, I didn't want to bombard them with asking them if I can [00:39:00] stay when they themselves are displaced and trying to, uh, find housing. And so I remember I had my check-in bag and my carry on at Maui Humane Society thinking, okay, let me just volunteer for this for like this last day, give it my all.

And I think it was just through conversation with other volunteers. I was like telling some of them, like, as we were in a Daisy chain, passing dog food into one of like the, the metal containers, I was saying, Hey, yeah, you know what, it's, it's been great volunteering with everyone here in Maui, like have a deep love for all of you.

And this is, uh, this has been certainly fulfilling. And then several of them said, you're not going anywhere. And then, so from then on, like in principle, that was the first cue where… Cause I'm, I'm very much, very open to like this human experience. And as long as I'm moving in a direction with, you know, good intention and compassion doors can [00:40:00] open.

And it's just about your willingness to accept them. And so from then on, that was the first sign of me being to where I am today as the wildfire liaison, because I definitely see those little incremental events that led to where I am right now, because if not, I would have just been back in California.

In my, in my own world.

[00:40:24] Marika: FireCat specialist Emily had collaborated with Maui Humane Society previously, and around the same time Johnny decided to stay, she once again became involved and began finding her place amongst the other individuals and organizations who stepped up to help.

[00:40:40] Emily: We had representatives from Fieldhaven who have responded in the Paradise Fires and offered their insight.

They helped us hold the fort down until our fire team got assembled because when I first came on, it was just myself and Johnny.

[00:40:55] Marika: If you'd like to hear more about Fieldhaven and the Paradise Fires, go to [00:41:00] fieldhaven. com. I've also got a link in the show notes.

[00:41:03] Emily: So we literally had to hit the ground running and kind of create this program as we went, like we had an idea in our mind, but when you think about something like this and disaster response, like we truly haven't seen anything like this in our state's history and in our shelters history, we were already a shelter that was overcapacity.

So when I came on, there was about, I want to say close to a hundred, if not over a hundred cats already in our care. And they had ranged from different levels of socialization and still in the middle of trying to track down tattoos and microchips and track down people. Like, did you relocate to another state?

Are you still on island? Are you living in a hotel? Did you pass away in the fire? It was, it was truly, we didn't quite know where to start. So that was, yeah. My first introduction coming back on and we truly hit the ground running and from there [00:42:00] we kind of assembled the rest of our team where we were able to reassess every cat in our care while actively still trapping and bringing in cats every day from the burn zone and assessing them medically and behaviorally and finding a good placement for them while actively building the housing that they need.

[00:42:18] Marika: During this process, the FireCat team would categorize the cats coming in on a scale of one to five. They called it So

[00:42:27] Emily: cats

[00:42:27] Marika: on

[00:42:28] Emily: a scale of one to two were like your friendly cats. Like they'll come out, they'll talk to you. They want that human interaction. They may be rubbing all over your feet, air muffins, the whole deal.

Or they might be very friendly, just a little bit on the shy scale. The fours and fives would be like our true feral demons that have never seen people. Or that were our free roaming community cats that were happy in their colonies being managed. Um, they also could have been intact cats because Lahaina had a, Very large population of free roaming cats where we were already wanting to [00:43:00] target TNR before the fire

[00:43:02] Marika: for those unfamiliar with shelter jargon.

TNR stands for trap neuter release, describing a protocol that allows free living cats to return to territories. They are already familiar with and a community they already know. This has many benefits to the community as a whole. And you can hear about TNR and more detail in episode 18 with the trap King.

Sterling Davis,

[00:43:26] Emily: and then we had our threes were in the middle. You're kind of frozen. You're still a little scared. We don't know who you are, who you want to be. And these all varied of having signs of ownership and no signs of ownership. So depending on where they fell on that scale, after they had their medical assessment by that staff, we would figure out their placement for housing.

So the ones and twos would stay in our family room where they're okay with that constant human interaction. The threes would actually go to our off site housing, which we called our Wailuku Annex. Wailuku is a district. And they could have human interaction, but they also could have that [00:44:00] level of if you are a little bit on the unsocialized or very little with socialization, you would have that time for us to figure out who you are.

And then we had our Cat Hollies, which is on site and outside, which is essentially a massive, uh, Storage said that's open and then it's kenneled and netted so that the cats can be safely confined and feel like they're outside and still have that option to be comfortable and be healthy, but not just loose on property with the risk that they would, you know, try and backtrack their way home.

So that was the first week. That was my first week. Um, and since then, it's kind of rolled, like, rolled out. We think about it and like, has it really been a few months or was this yesterday?

Reflections and Ongoing Challenges (to be continued in episode 3/4)

[00:44:43] Marika: When I talked with Emily, it was eight months post disaster. The majority of cats that could be reunited with owners or adopted had found their new normal.

Focus pivoted towards long term solutions for the free living cats who could not return to their original territories. [00:45:00] We'll discuss that issue later on in the series. But first, let's step back to a conversation held with Jenny, the Director of Development, in October 2023, just two months following the catastrophic fires.

At that point, the mission was immediate. Assess the situation, begin the long process of reunification, or find permanent adoptive homes. And tackle the daily challenges of rescue in the burn zone from treating a range of injuries to ensuring the newly rescued animals were not only safe, but also not posing risks to each other.

Jenny: So[00:45:37] we're supporting 500 animals that are currently living in hotels with their owners who have nowhere to go. I don't know what, what the outcome is going to be for those animals because there's no pet friendly housing. And any housing that is available is so, so expensive. And when we lost 2000 homes, and these are multi generational homes, local people that had [00:46:00] eight people to a house and six dogs, and the need is going to continue for a long time.

Both of the only vet clinics burnt down in Lahaina. So all of those animals records are gone. There's no vet care over there. So we're doing clinics twice a week at one of the hotels over there. It's just been a crazy, crazy. Time, but we're, we're in it for the long haul. I just wanted to mention that we're so grateful for all the support.

[00:46:27] Marika: As the dedicated staff at Maui Humane Society continues their mission, reuniting animals with families, we're faced with another unfolding crisis, the housing dilemma. In episode three, we'll start to touch on this issue while also catching up with Emily, Johnny, and Moani. Stay tuned as we hear how the animals of Lahaina survived the days and weeks in the burn zone, especially as access was shut down for nearly three weeks, trapping injured animals inside.

We'll hear how the staff at Maui [00:47:00] Humane Society fought hard for answers and access to save more lives.

Katie: They need to be a priority because in order to provide closure to people who have lost absolutely everything, perhaps some, including their lives, you also need to provide that closure to the people that see animals as their family

Marika: Now, please take a moment to visit the deal with animals. com and click on the link to the MHS donation page, which has been set up in collaboration with Maui Humane Society for you to show your continued support for the work of the staff at MHS to help them continue their efforts for the animals of Maui.

Thank you for joining me. As we ask the question, what's the deal with the animals of the Maui wildfires?

I'm your host, Marika Bell. I want to thank the staff at MHS for sharing their stories. I know it wasn't easy. The theme music for the deal with the animals was composed by Kai Stranskoff. Thank you as well to Christina Blanco, the TDWA communications volunteer. And for this series, a very special thank you to John La Sala [00:49:00] for his masterful audio engineering.

TDWA has literally never sounded better. And for this help, I would also like to dedicate the series to Boo Boo, who lived a beautiful life full of so much love and dirt and gross things to eat. You are missed. This podcast was produced on historical tribal land of the Snoqualmie, Quinault, and Waccamaw Indian nations.

For more information, go to the Snoqualmie tribes ancestral lands movement. The Deal with Animals is part of the Iroh Animal Podcast Network.