'Never be the same': Maui fire victims seek answers, accountability at Washington hearing

WASHINGTON − At a restaurant table a couple miles south from the U.S. Capitol, a group of eight grieving family members and survivors of the Maui wildfires met for the first time as they flew in from across the country to get some answers.

The group came together in the last few weeks with one commonality: the Lahaina fire left a permanent imprint on their lives. Now, they were seeking answers as to whether the fatal disaster last month could have been prevented.

“I feel like we bonded in a way you can’t explain,” said Kathleen Hennricks, whose sister died in the fire disaster last month.

And now that bond - and the impact of the tragedy on their families - will be center stage in Washington. The U.S. House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is conducting a hearing Thursday to investigate Hawaiian Electric’s possible role in the fires. Shelee Kimura, CEO and president of the utility company, along with executives from the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission and Hawaii State Energy Office are expected to testify.

The purpose of the hearing is to determine what role electric infrastructure played in the fires. Hawaiian Electric, currently facing a slew of lawsuits in the fire’s aftermath, has denied allegations that its downed power lines caused the fire.

The families impacted by the Maui disaster have submitted written testimony to the Congressional committee, describing how the fire has affected them. They made the trip to Washington D.C. from around the country to attend the hearing, be heard, and to seek some accountability for people and businesses who may have played a role in the tragedy.

The group was invited to attend the hearing but will not be called on for testimony in person, said Anne Andrews, managing partner for the Andrews & Thornton law firm. Both that firm and Bickerton Law Group in Honolulu are representing the eight victims traveling to Washington.

A myriad of lawsuits has been filed against private and public entities after wildfires claimed at least 97 lives, destroyed more than 2,200 structures, leveled a historic town and caused an estimated billions of dollars in damage. An investigation into the fire is underway.

Families of Lahaina couple unite for answers after loved ones found dead

Hennricks and Jon Gloege connected last month for one common purpose: to find their loved ones.

Hennricks’ sister, Rebecca Rans, and Gloege’s father, Doug Gloege, were a longtime couple in Lahaina. On the first day of the fire, Kathleen recalled hearing about the fire and her mind jumping to her sister. Hennricks spent the next nine days searching for Rans through social media, phone calls, contacting hospitals and shelters, and any other way she could.

“Every time I see those flames, I’m thinking, ‘Is my sister there?’” Hennricks recalled through tears.

On Aug. 18 at 10:45p.m., an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation knocked on her door. Rans, 57, died alongside Gloege a few blocks from their Lahaina home.

“That is when your worst fear is realized,” she said.

Rans suffered from severe arthritis, which may have prevented from getting out in time, her sister said.

Hennricks connected with Gloege’s family during the fire. While they’ve been speaking over the phone every day, they met for the first time in person on Wednesday, as they came to Washington D.C. to attend the hearing.

Gloege and Andrea Wheeler, who joined Hennricks and others in the nation's capital to attend the hearing, are headed to Lahaina in a couple weeks to say goodbye to their father, Doug. The siblings plan to have him cremated and keep his remains in Lahaina, who had been a proud resident of the town for more than 20 years.

Family of four seeking answers after losing homes, community

“I can still smell the smoke when I drive through the neighborhood,” Elsa Eberle, a longtime Lahaina resident, said through tears.

Elsa and her husband, Jim Eberle, were staying with their son outside Hawaii when the fire began, as they waited for remodeling work to conclude on their house in Lahaina, which was supposed to conclude this week but has been delayed due to the disaster.

On the day of the fire, Elsa recalled frantically trying to reach her daughter, but downed cell service meant agonizing moments of waiting. Eventually, she was connected with her daughter, Andrea Pekelo, who also came to D.C. with her husband, Doc Ellis Pekelo, to attend the congressional hearing.

Elsa had grown up in a home adjacent to the sugarcane fields where her father worked, an active business before the island transitioned its economic focus from agriculture to tourism. During that time, the fields were maintained with prescribed burns and kept healthy. However, when the site closed down, weed plants grew out of control and served as fuel for the deadly fires last month, Elsa said.

Andrea, a lifelong resident of Lahaina, along with her native Hawaiian husband, Doc, had witnessed the destructive Maui fires in 2018 and hoped never to see something like it again.

However, on Aug. 8, Andrea was at her Lahaina home when she saw smoke begin to drift through the neighborhood. The fire had already begun to burn through homes when she managed to escape through a fence broken down by a police car.

"The trauma of that day changed me, and I will never be the same again," Andrea said in her written testimony.

Illinois diving shop owner saved family of three from fire

Brian Kinley, who owns Azimuth Scuba, a diving shop in Rockford, Illinois, was in Lahaina when the fire first started with a group of instructional divers who volunteered at his business, along with their families.

“It was like having a furnace on you,” Kinley recalled.

As he rushed to load up his team into cars and get out of the burning town, Kinley saw a family of three standing outside – a Japanese couple from San Jose with their two-year-old daughter who had come to the island for a vacation. As tourists with no way around, Kinley pulled them into his cars and drove everyone out.

He remembered polls snapping, trees falling into roads, and an unforgettable heat.

Following the tragedy, Kinley invited the family to stay with him in Illinois this past weekend and decided to make it a yearly tradition.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Maui fire victims unite to get answers at Washington oversight hearing