Poignant moment Hawaiian TV channel reveals he lost FOUR family members in Lahaina wildfires: ‘Life can change in the blink of an eye’
- Jonathan Masaki Shiroma grew up on the island of Maui and has said he lost family members in the wildfires
- Shiroma described the news of his family’s loss as a “gut” as a cousin of his is still missing
- It comes after officials announced that the death toll had risen to 93 over the weekend
This is the poignant moment when a Hawaiian TV broadcaster reveals he lost four family members in the Maui wildfires.
Jonathan Masaki Shiroma said news of family members dying in the horrific bushfires had been a “gut” with a cousin of his still missing.
Speak against Fox is alive nowthe broadcaster said the news was heartbreaking and that he would continue to pray for everyone on his home island of Maui.
Shiroma said, “It’s like a gut, you hear the words of devastation and then you realize that as a kid (you were) the home town was playing in the sugar cane fields and near what used to be the Pioneer Mill.”
“Then I learned that relatives lost their lives trying to leave the field plains that flooded so quickly, with one still missing.”
Shiroma, who now lives in Honolulu, also remembers spending time on the island as a child
A resident looks around a charred apartment complex in the aftermath of a wildfire in Lahaina
“It’s just heartbreaking, prayers continue for everyone on Maui and Lahaiana as the loss continues.”
Shiroma, who now lives in Honolulu, continued, “The people of Hawaii, regardless of your ethnicity, have such a sense of ohana.
“My grandparents grew up on Maui and have their roots in the devastated area.
“When I look back as a child, it was a very simple plantation town. I remember running in the backyard of my great grandparents house and they had a huge mango tree and a fish pond.
“The cousins, we all got together, that’s how I remember my Maui. Enjoy the fact that we grew up on this beautiful island.’
In a post on his Instagram, Shiroma added, “My heart is grieving today. Learns that four family members were killed in the Lahaina fires. Please keep my Ohana in your prayers.
“Tell people you love them, appreciate them, be nice. Life can change in an instant.
In a post on his Instagram, Shiroma also asked his followers to keep his family in their prayers
This photo, released by the County of Maui on Aug. 10, shows homes destroyed after the devastating wildfire
Officials have announced that the death toll on the island of Maui has now risen to 93, with rescue teams now tasked with searching areas left by the area for remains.
Teams have marked homes with a bright orange X to record an initial search and contact HR when they discover human remains.
Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said crews with cadaver dogs covered only 3 percent of the search area, and the death toll is expected to rise again.
Pelletier said identifying the dead is extremely challenging because “we pick up the remains and they fall apart”
Kealani Maunakea Fernandez, of O’ahu, cries as she is hugged by Nani Peterson, of Maui, as a volunteer group of about 30 Hawaiians from O’ahu is welcomed by Hawaiians from Lahaina
Pelletier said, “When we find our family and our friends, the remains we find are from a fire that melted metal.”
Governor Josh Green said Saturday that at least 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed, 86 percent of them residential.
Island-wide, he added, damage is estimated at nearly $6 billion. Green said it will take an “incredible amount of time” to recover.
The recently released death toll surpassed that of the 2018 Camp Fire in Northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the city of Paradise, making them the deadliest in modern US history.