ABC Columbia News Exclusive: Lahaina wildfires destroy home of USC grads, how you can help

LAHAINA, HAWAII — (WOLO) — Officials now believe that downed power lines were the cause of the fires that spread across parts of Maui — with reports of at least 111 people dead and hundreds still unaccounted for.

Jenna Allen graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2019 and has lived in Lahaina for the past four years with her roommates Amy (who is also a graduate of USC) and Julia, leading local sailing trips for a company called Trilogy Excursions.

But Jenna and her roommates’ once beautiful home in the historic district of Lahaina is now left in ruins.

Jenna recalls her experience saying she and her roommates were already home due to severe storm weather when a coworker knocked on their door to tell them the fires had picked up and they needed to evacuate.

“…And he comes to the door and is like ‘Pack your stuff and get out right now!’, and we all go into freak out mode,” says Jenna.

She says she and her roommates got in separate cars in hopes of saving their vehicles.

“But then immediately we were all separated. I have videos that are time stamped I took a video from my living room window at 3:49 and by 4:09 I had made it one block I was in gridlock traffic and I cant see anything — within 20 minutes black smoke everywhere,” says Jenna.

The video of her evacuating shows dangerous power lines and black smoke. “I don’t know what to do… I don’t know what to do…These power lines are gonna come down and I’m scared they’re gonna come down on my car while I’m waiting. I’ve never been so scared in my whole life. We shouldn’t have taken separate cars, I should’ve just left it and gone with them,” says Jenna while stuck in traffic.

But luckily, Jenna and all of her friends and coworkers made it to their destinations safely.

She says all of the initial efforts were community based.

“It was makeshift pop up beach tents with water and toilet papers and supplies, and nurses and oxygen. Completely community driven. Completely community base,” says Jenna.

They’re all still trying to process the magnitude of loss around them.

“I don’t have any claim to this place, I’m so lucky I got to live here and spend a huge chunk of my life here. I just want Hawaiian lands to stay in Hawaiian hands. That’s just so important to me. And I want to see Lahaina rebuilt. As authentically as it possibly can be. It’s not ever going to be the same, and that’s devastating, because it’s a really, really special place,” says Jenna.

She hopes that folks on the mainland will continue to give back.

“If you have had the opportunity to be here before in any capacity, and you got to take something away from this place. Whether it’s memories, or a beautiful vacation, now is your time to give back to Hawaii. I just don’t want to see this place be neglected as it has been forever. And it’s on all of us and it’s going to require a huge amount of money. To rebuild and also a huge amount of money to support the people here that have lost everything and we’re just not seeing that at all right now, and that’s very disappointing,” says Jenna.

If you would like to contribute to a “gofundme” set up for Jenna and her roommates (by her friends Elizabeth and Katie) click here or the link below:

GoFundMe According to Jenna, an official Instagram page with ways to donate is also set up @lahaina_ohana_venmo.

Visit Good Morning America’s article here for a link to charities.

The American Red Cross is also taking donations. If you would like to help victims of wildfire you can click here to donate.