LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A family living in Hawaii received an emergency flight from Maui to Las Vegas and described the journey they’ve been on throughout the past few days.
“It was moving so fast it was unpredictable,” 20-year-old Aidan Haidl said.
Haidl was enjoying his life in Maui before the fires ripped through his hometown.
“I could smell it as soon as we walked outside,” Haidl said.
The flames were getting closer, and with seconds to spare Haidl and his family made it out.
“A lot of friends and family just ran out with just the shirts on their backs because it was just all too fast,” Haidl said.
They didn’t know if things would get worse before they got better, so Haidl and his family went to the northern part of the island.
“It was just like every second mattered,” he said.
Meanwhile in Las Vegas, his sister Alexy Rollins was worried for her family, but cell service was spotty.
“I tried to text them Wednesday through Saturday,” Rollins said.
Rollins had one goal, and that was to get her family safely to Las Vegas.
” It wasn’t a simple Hey I’m going to buy you a plane ticket and you are going to come home it was how can you get to the other side of the island,” Rollins said.
The family arrived this weekend, as recovery efforts for the victims continue.
“It was so scary like that could have been my parents and brothers,” Rollins said.
Although there is a relief, there is another feeling that is weighing heavy on Haidl.
“I feel guilt I feel helpless, I feel like I left my home,” Rollins said.
When asked if the residents of Maui will ever be the same, Haidl said “No I think that they including myself it’s scarring.”
The family does not know when they will be able to return to the island.
They say they are bracing themselves to learn who has died in the blaze, as there are many people they know who are missing.
