LAHAINA, Hawaii — The first of thousands of residents who lost their homes in the wildfire that destroyed the Hawaii town of Lahaina returned to their devastated properties Monday, with some stopping for a moment of reflection and others searching for mementos among the ruins.
"They're very appreciative to get in here, something they've all been waiting anxiously for," Darryl Oliveira, interim administrator of the Maui Emergency Management Agency, told reporters gathered outside the burn zone. "People who haven't been here since the fire are taken aback by the amount of and extent of the destruction."
