Most Americans followed the Lahaina fire on Maui, considered the world’s deadliest wildfire on record, on national news. But for KHON, it was, and still is, very much a local story.
Pushed by winds from Hurricane Dora passing near Hawaii, a wildfire that started on Tuesday, Aug. 8, swept through the historic town of Lahaina on the island of Maui, causing total devastation. The death toll is still rising as recovery efforts continue.
It is considered the world’s deadliest wildfire on record.
Most Americans followed the coverage on the national news. But I’ve wondered how the local stations were covering the fire.
Due to the ongoing emergency, I was only able to speak to Kristina Lockwood, the general manager of KHON, Nexstar’s Fox affiliate in Honolulu.
Honolulu is on the island of Oahu, and the only direct way to get to Lahaina on Maui is by plane, about a 40-minute flight.
Lockwood says KHON had a crew on Maui that Tuesday when the station learned about the fire.
“We were seeing EAS alerts later in the day, but they were very cryptic,” Lockwood says. “By the next day, we knew everything that happened, and it was devastating.”
Lockwood says most of the population resides on the main island where Honolulu is, but the local TV stations are responsible for the entire state of Hawaii, “so when something happens on the neighbor islands, we are there.”
The next morning, Wednesday, Aug. 9, when it was evident that the fire had roared through Lahaina, KHON sent three news crews to Maui, Lockwood says.
She says KHON’s duty first and foremost is sharing the most up-to-date information for the families and residents of Maui concerning people who were lost and helping those in shelters who lost everything they had.
“We are really trying to look at how we can make a difference,” Lockwood says. “Obviously that is providing the news and information that people need and want, but it’s also on a more personal level. How can we be involved and use our collective resources and the resources of our company Nexstar to do good?”
To that end, KHON partnered with the Red Cross to hold a telethon on Aug. 14.
The telethon was called “Malama Maui” which means “Let’s Take Care of Maui,” and was streamed live on KHON2.com.
The telethon raised $1,187,712 in donations to assist victims affected by the recent wildfires that devastated Maui.
The effort was capped off with an additional $134,253 in donations from a telethon hosted by Nexstar’s KLAS Las Vegas, and a $20,000 donation from the Nexstar Media Charitable Foundation.
Lockwood says Hawaii-born President Barak Obama, NFL player Marcus Mariota, Wheel of Fortune’s Pat Sajak and other celebrities delivered messages as part of the telethon and were a contributing factor in getting more donations.
The Red Cross has provided more than 4,200 overnight shelter stays in 12 emergency shelters on Maui and Oahu, provided more than 28,600 meals and snacks to people in need while also successfully completing more than 550 reunification information requests.
“We are so pleased that our collective efforts were able to generate such a large amount of money for Maui when they need it the most.”
Going forward, in addition to telling and sharing the stories of the residents of Maui, the station is doing its own investigation into why the decision was made not to sound the island’s warning sirens.
“We are really trying to uncover all the facts to make sure that the local residents know that we are looking out for them,” she says. “There are a lot of eyes on this story. The severity of it could have been prevented.”
Lockwood says there is concern across the state of Hawaii about its No. 1 industry, tourism.
“People think there is a fire in Hawaii and that you shouldn’t go there at all, which is definitely not the case,” she says. “The state is open and safe, and there is definitely a trickledown effect to our local economy, so tourism is really, really important.”
Lockwood says this is a very “challenging time for the state and so positive vibes and support from everyone is really appreciated.”
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