Vacation from hell: Yuba City family recounts harrowing escape from deadly Maui fires

Aug. 22—When the Stromer family of Yuba City decided to take a last-minute vacation to Hawaii, they had no idea that this little tropical escapade might cost them their lives. Having traveled to Maui nearly half a dozen times before, the Stromers always preferred to stay at The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka'anapali in Lahaina.

This trip was no different, wanting to celebrate Myra Stromer's recent birthday, and give their son a bit of summer fun before school, the Stromers packed up their two children, ages 2 and 7, along with Sean Stromer's 84-year-old mother.

Their journey began on Aug. 8, flying into Maui from Sacramento. They arrived on the island around 10 a.m. after experiencing some of the worst turbulence of their life.

"It was like a Disney ride," said Myra Stromer. "I got sick on the plane. Everybody on the plane was really scared. The guy behind us was like, 'I literally fly maybe 14 times a year to Hawaii, I've never had anything that bad before.'"

After making it to the ground, the Stromers found an Uber driver who questioned whether or not they wanted to continue on toward Lahaina. The driver mentioned that the area had had a fire but that he thought it was contained, however the traffic was going to be bad and there was no electricity.

"We're from California, there's fires everywhere, so we didn't really think there was going to be any danger," said Sean Stromer.

"I called the hotel and they answered and said, 'yeah you know, we don't have power right now, but they're working on it and it should probably be up in a couple hours,'" added Myra Stromer.

Normally, a drive from the airport to The Westin would take about 35 minutes. But this particular trip took nearly five hours. They encountered multiple closed roads and even had a stop sign blown into the car, damaging the driver's side mirror and window.

Winds at this point were topping 70 mph or higher and the family hadn't eaten in over eight hours. At one point, the couple debated whether or not to have the driver pull off at a Burger King to wait out the storm there while they ate, but Myra Stromer decided they should just stick it out until they reached the hotel.

"There was no one directing traffic telling you where to go or anything, it was just literally the locals that were trying to use all the back roads," said Myra Stromer. "At one point our driver even shared his almonds with us because we had been stuck so long and he knew we were hungry."

With one last path to try, the Uber driver got them to the hotel safely before departing to check on his own son's home and family nearby. The Stromers then entered the hotel which, not surprisingly, still had no power. From their room on the 11th floor, the Stromers could clearly see the approaching flames from across town and decided to inquire about it with the hotel staff.

"Everybody seemed like everything was fine there," said Myra Stromer. "They were like, 'it's no big deal, it's just a brush fire, they have it under control,' then all our phones lost service."

As the hours wore on, guests who could see the fire from their rooms began to get more and more concerned, others still seemed oblivious.

When the generators went out, people became trapped in elevators and lost access to running water. The Stromers had to make multiple trips down 11 flights of stairs to inquire about the flames and any emergency protocols. Water was supplied in jugs at the front desk being taken directly from the hotel's filtration system.

"When dinner time came, the lines were getting super long because there were no other stores open," said Myra Stromer. "My husband waited in line for almost two hours for our dinner and it seemed like they were price hiking the meals."

The Stromers reported paying $40 or more for one small burger and a personal bag of chips or pretzels. By this time, the fire appeared even closer and Myra Stromer said the winds seemed to be blowing it in their direction. Staff told concerned patrons that the roads were being closed on and off and that a clear exit route was unknown.

"I asked them, 'what's the plan if the fire comes to our hotel?' and they said, 'well, we would just have to go stand by the water and hope we don't get burned,'" said Myra Stromer.

The Stromers ended up being stranded at the Westin for nearly two days while food rations continued to dwindle. Concerned guests swapped stories on various escape plans and questioned staff on when bus services might become available. Due to the lack of cell service and internet availability, no one seemed to have any answers.

"No one seemed to know what was going on, even the hotel workers were like, 'sorry guys, some of our houses are on fire right now and we have to stay at work, there's nothing we can do,'" said Myra Stromer. "At that point, I really thought that we were going to die."

The Stromer family spent their first night listening to howling winds and what sounded like bombs exploding across town. Myra Stromer said she cried and prayed for hours and couldn't stop shaking.

"Why would they have let us fly in if the winds had been this bad even the night before we got here?" said Myra Stromer dumbfoundedly. "Why did they let us come to the hotel?"

In the morning, the lobby began to fill up with locals taking refuge and looking for food. All charges were being documented by hand per room and cash was not being accepted. The Stromers decided to help one woman with two young children by charging their plates to their own room number since there were no other options.

Only those that waited in the lobby seemed to get any updates. Hotel staff had told the Stromers that their protocol was to knock on every door in an emergency but no one alerted the family when a bus became available at 9 p.m. that evening on Aug. 9.

After being warned that checking out would mean they could not return to their lodgings, the family decided to pack up on Aug. 10 and take their chances at Whalers Village next door, which was rumored to be having a shuttle service.

A crowd of 100 soon enveloped into thousands as residents and tourists piled up to wait for what seemed to be the only way out. This was the first time the Stromers remember seeing law officers who arrived, presumably, to ensure the buses would not be rushed.

"We thought it was going to be those big charter buses," said Myra Stromer. "Then three school buses pull up."

While the Stromers waited to board the bus, they met the Phonxaylinkham family from Fresno, who've recently been making the rounds on social media and various news outlets for their harrowing ocean escape. The Phonxaylinkhams have five children and were forced to evacuate their vehicle and flee into the ocean for several hours, clinging to a board to stay afloat.

"I never prayed so hard in my life," said Myra Stromer, choking back her emotions. "Being from California, I knew how fast the wind could carry those flames and our last resort would have been jumping into the ocean too."

The Stromers' prayers appeared to have been answered when the winds switched directions and carried the fire up a hill and away from the hotel. Yet everything around them was left charred, even the Burger King they had thought of stopping at just two days prior.

Back at the airport, the Stromers were faced with more long lines and unhelpful staff. Once at the counter, Myra Stromer asked for any flights off the island and back to Sacramento. She was repeatedly told she would have to change reservations on her phone or online, even though their cell phone batteries were nearly dead. They were then told they could fly to Honolulu for $19 each, but those fares would again have to be purchased online.

"I honestly don't know what she was there for," said Stromer frustratedly, in reference to the woman at the ticket counter. "I ended up using the last 10% battery I had left to book some ridiculously expensive flights to Honolulu."

In total, the Stromers believe they spent at least $5,000 or more in airfare just to escape Maui in addition to paying $1,500 per night to stay in Honolulu until they were able to fly home on Aug. 13. The status for any potential refunds for lodgings at The Westin or canceled airfares from Maui are still to be determined.

"I'm guessing they probably still don't have power," said Myra Stromer.

With everything that happened, the Stromers said they are extremely grateful to be home and don't plan on returning to Maui anytime soon. Their hearts go out to the families and residents who were less fortunate than them and also to their kind-hearted Uber driver whose family, they were told, lost their home.