They talked about their initial response, when the fires were just beginning to burn. They spoke of the moment they decided it was time to leave their long-time family home in Lahaina. And they told the incredible story of how they had to maneuver through blocked roads, traffic-jammed streets and roads already consumed by smoke and fire until they were able to get to the safety of family members.

But through it all, they both kept coming back to one encouraging certainty: how the people of Hawaii and Lahaina responded without hesitation both during the peak of the fire and its aftermath, when all the incredible devastation finally came to light.

“The people of Lahaina just make it special,” said Debby Takatsuka. “It’s just a special feeling being there. Whatever you need, even if you are local or not…you’re family.”

Alan Takatsuka said the pride of being from Lahaina is what’s driving him right now to make sure he rebuilds and continues to have a place to call home, especially since he grew up there.

-Submitted photo
the Takatsuka home is pictured after the fires in Lahaina. Most of their neighborhood was destroyed by the fires.

“It’s a pride factor,” he said. “I just can’t give up on Lahaina.”

They were staying at their home in Lahaina with their son — current FDSH teacher Ryan Takatsuka — and his family when the fires first started on Aug. 8. They said they woke up and could smell smoke, but it wasn’t alarming since they have been through previous wildfires.

They said there were strong winds the night before — so strong that it knocked things off the walls inside the house and cluttered up items in the backyard. But again, they didn’t think it would ever escalate to such an extreme magnitude.

They both took Ryan Takatsuka’s family to the airport, stopped for some breakfast, and decided to head back home.

That’s when they started to become concerned that this was out of the ordinary.

“We were driving back home, and there was a line of cars heading out of Lahaina,” said Alan Takatsuka. “When we got home, it was kind of a mess. There were shingles in the yard and lots of debris.”

He decided to take a nap as his wife and his sister, Judy Cramer, worked to straighten up. After a while, Debby Takatsuka woke him and had him come outside.

There, he saw bumper-to-bumper cars heading out of their neighborhood.

“We could see smoke, and the wind was really blowing,” he said.. “We could also see ash falling from the sky. We kind of looked at each other and said, ‘what do we do now?'”

Alan Takatsuka said what really started to concern them was the heat from the fires, even though they were still quite a ways from their house.

“When we could feel the heat, that’s when we decided this is not good,” he said. “That’s when we knew something was definitely wrong.”

After grabbing just a few items they could carry, what followed was a harrowing experience to get to safety. They and Cramer jumped in the car and worked to get away from the neighborhood.

It was a trip that included several reversals of direction, several jaunts down side streets, and as both were happy to report, a lot of people willing to make room for each on the jam-packed roads.

What also came in handy was the fact he was born and raised in Lahaina, so he knew different shortcuts and which alleys and parking lots were pathways to safety.

“We weren’t panicking. We just felt like we’d go back to the house eventually and have a big mess to clean up,” said Debby Takatsuka.

After finally landing at a cousin’s house that wasn’t threatened by fire, they were able to get a better understanding of where the fire was heading and how much damage it was causing.

“People were trying to go back to Lahaina and couldn’t. That’s when I started to realize our house was probably gone,” said Alan Takatsuka.

Incredibly, some houses in the neighborhood were spared. Most were reduced to ashes, though.

The Taktasukas were not able to get back to their neighborhood before leaving for Iowa, but they have seen pictures of the destruction.

The only thing that really remains of their house is the driveway. One picture showed the stove still standing with a tea pot sitting on it.

“Information was coming in in bits and pieces,” said Alan Takatsuka. “No one was really sure what had happened to our neighborhood.”

“I was most concerned about what happened to our friends and relatives,” said Debby Takatsuka.

In a bit of good news, all of their relatives were accounted for after the fires. And four out of the five houses in the family were left unscathed.

Alan Takatsuka’s home was the only one completely destroyed.

He grew up in that house. He helped his family build it when he was just 10 years old. He and his sister have maintained it as a vacation home for the past several years, as he and his wife live in Fort Dodge full-time.

“You know, we do feel fortunate because we had a home (in Fort Dodge) to come back to,” said Debby Takatsuka. “So many people lost everything. They really don’t have any place to go.”

The Takatsukas also talked about the unselfishness they witnessed, and heard about in the days following the fire. The son of one relative is a firefighter. He told them stories of people rescuing others, of firefighters pulling people out of burning houses and rescuing people who were forced to leap into the ocean as a last resort to get away from the flames.

They also talked about people who were opening up their homes, sometimes to complete strangers, because so many people had been displaced.

“I ran into a lady at the store. She had a car full of supplies,” said Debby Takatsuka. “She told me her boss handed her his credit card and said get whatever people need. People just didn’t want to give up. It’s like a little village.”

Now back home in Iowa, they both are still trying to process everything they endured. The Takatsukas were appreciative of all the people who reached out to them, and both agreed the plan going forward is to pick up the pieces and rebuild.

“For me, it’s where I grew up. There’s something special about being born and raised in Hawaii.

“There’s something special about Lahaina.”

Debby Takatsuka agreed, and said that even though she’s not native to Hawaii, she also felt like family in Lahaina.

“They just all took me in and I became family over the years,” she said. “People of Lahaina are just special.”