One Hawaiian man is recounting his courageous journey through the Hawaiian wildfires to save his grandmother. On August 8, 2023, 28-year-old Pa’ele Kiakona traveled 13 miles through the flames to warn his grandmother, who lived in Lahaina, of the incoming wildfire. He journeyed those miles by bike and car in a desperate attempt of making it to his grandma before the devastation occurred. Pa’ele traveled from his home in Honokohau Valley. “I was going as fast as I could, but the fire was coming really fast,” he recalled.
“I almost fell over multiple times — the wind was just crazy,” he added of the wildfire. “There were points where I felt I would give up, like I couldn’t make it. But I felt as if God had his hand on my shoulder, pushing me, helping me.”
According to Pa’ele, he barely made it to his grandmother's house before the flames did. “I got there and I told her, 'You need to leave now,'” he recalled. “Luckily, my grandma had some tenants and they had a car. They packed their stuff and jumped in the car.”
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Less than 30 minutes later, the devastating wildfire destroyed his grandmother's home. It also destroyed almost every building in the town of about 13,000.
The cause of the wildfire is still unknown, however, it is already being considered the deadliest in the US in more than a century. To date, 114 people have been declared dead, with 850 people officially believed to be missing.
Pa’ele stated his journey to his grandmother's house after receiving a call from someone. “Somebody from another island called me because there was no power, landlines or cellphone service,” he said. “People couldn’t get the word out to anyone else outside Lahaina.”
“I didn’t know the severity of the fire until I got closer,” he continued. After running into closed roads with cars blocking the way, he traded his car for a friend's bicycle. “There was smoke in all directions — it was like something you’d see in a movie.”
“I could feel my legs building up with lactic acid, my lungs were heavy, my heart was pounding,” he added. “But I continued and pushed through it. Pure instinct took over — nothing was going to stop me from getting there to save my family.”
After arriving at his grandma's and warning her, one of Pa’ele's cousins came on a dirtbike, and he was able to hitch a ride out of the town. “By the time we met (just outside Lahaina), their house was gone,” he explained. “I got them out just in time.”
