‘Utter chaos’: Maui residents say they are being looted, ‘robbed at gunpoint’
Some Maui residents say they have been looted and robbed at gunpoint while catastrophic wildfires rage on the island — leaving them begging for a greater response from authorities as thieves make off with vital supplies.
As rescue crews work to deliver necessities such as water, food, and first aid to those in need, locals say some residents have grown so desperate waiting for help that they’ve resorted to stealing.
West Maui residents blame the robberies in Lahaina on the fact that they feel abandoned without supplies or answers.
Jeremy Aganos, who owns the restaurant Coconut Caboose — one of the few buildings that survived the fires on Front Street in Lahaina — told KITV it was “utter chaos” for people trying to find food, water and shelter.
An Oregon resident told the outlet that their relative flew into Maui to donate water, food, household items and clothing — only to be robbed at gunpoint soon after his arrival.
The startling uptick in crime has left residents slamming local leadership for its inaction in the wake of the catastrophic fires, which have become the deadliest in the US in more than a century as nearly 100 people have been reported dead so far.
“There’s some police presence. There’s some small military presence. But at night, people are being robbed at gunpoint,” Matt Robb, co-owner of a bar in Lahaina called the Dirty Monkey, told Insider.
“I mean, they’re going through houses — and then by day it’s hunky dory. So where is the support? I don’t think our government and our leaders, at this point, know how to handle this or what to do,” he said.
Other locals had more sympathetic views of the thieves, including Lahaina resident Barrett Procell, who lost his home in the fire.
Procell said those resorting to looting were just in survival mode.
He urged local leaders to bring in greater resources for those like himself who lost their homes and belongings.
“When your children and [you] are here starving after almost burning to death and the police won’t let people drive in to give you necessities, you may turn to desperate measures,” Procell told KITV. “It is unfortunate people are turning to looting right now, but it’s about helping them and not villainizing them.”
Kami Irwin, a Maui resident helping to coordinate relief efforts, told Insider that locals began neighborhood patrols and distributing supplies when they realized they were only seeing volunteers — not government officials — coordinating aid efforts.
“We literally have no idea because we are not hearing answers from anybody,” Irwin told Insider. “We are still left without knowing what to do.”
While Irwin lauded Maui residents for taking care of each other in a time of crisis, she said the devastating wildfires have been made worse by the “lack of leadership” from local government officials.
“I haven’t even had time to watch the news, but people are telling me on the mainland that, from the videos that I’m sharing, that it is way worse than what the news is even sharing,” Irwin said. “We have so many people that are missing and unaccounted for. It’s an actual horrific nightmare that you just cannot wake up from. It’s beyond words.”
Hawaii State Senator Angus McKelvey echoed that there was a disconnect between reports and the reality in Maui, as he slammed the lack of a coordinated government response.
“I’ve not heard from FEMA. I’ve not seen a FEMA person. None of my counterparts are – and a lot of people whose community hasn’t seen them at all,” McKelvey told NewsNation Now Monday.
The state senator said he was “not actually” satisfied with the federal aid, and called on officials to coordinate directly with local leaders to deliver the aid that’s needed for those displaced and injured by the wildfires.
“We need immediate housing,” McKelvey. “There’s money, how do we get money, the banks are all burned, destroyed, people don’t have credit cards and IDs.
“So there’s going to be a challenge in getting, so we need FEMA to be here on Maui.”
A mobile refrigerated morgue was rushed to Lahaina on Monday to keep bodies cool as the death toll on Maui hit 96 — and is only expected to rise.
Two fires have not yet been completely contained, including the one that reduced Lahaina’s neighborhoods to heaps of ash and debris, according to an update from Maui County.
Rescuers and cadaver dogs have gone door to door, searching the area for additional casualties.
Only 3% of Lahaina — previously a town of 13,000 — had been searched.
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said the fire had been so significant that each recovered body will have to be identified through DNA testing.
Hawaii officials are urging tourists to avoid traveling to Maui as many hotels are prepared to house evacuees and first responders.
