Life

Penn College alumni grateful to escape Hawaii fire

The deadliest natural disaster in the U.S. since 1918 torched Hawaii's Maui island last month and touched the lives of two Pennsylvania College of Technology alumni. Both continue to cope with the tragedy that destroyed their beloved Lahaina, killed numerous neighbors and scarred their paradise, according to a news release from the college.

Kristen (Fortney) Patterson, a Loyalsock Township native who earned degrees in business administration in 2009 and legal assistant-paralegal in 2014, lost her apartment, along with all her possessions, in the center of Lahaina.

She escaped the wildfires with her three cats, navigating her car around downed electrical wires and uprooted trees to a friend's home, but was separated from her husband for nearly a week due to road closures.

Similar to other displaced residents, they are now residing in a Kaanapali hotel, four miles north of the main burn area, according to Penn College.

"Lahaina as I knew it is gone," she said. "We were so happy there."

Matthew S. Francis, a 1998 accounting graduate originally from Clearfield, was in his U.S. Postal Service truck, stuck in traffic on Lahaina's Front Street, when the weather's worst began bearing down on the historic community of 13,000 residents and countless tourists.

He rolled his windows up, donned an N95 mask left over from the pandemic, and texted his mom in South Carolina, advising of his status. His second message, letting her know he was safe at the main post office north of town, never arrived due to cell service outages; after hours of uncertainty, she heard from him the following day.

Luckily for Francis, the Napili condo that he and his wife own was not touched by the fires, but all of the homes on the Lahaina streets where he delivered mail for 16 years no longer exist.

"I can close my eyes and picture all the houses. How I would walk to your front door. All the little details, like how the sidewalk corner lifted up a bit, so I would need to step over it," he shared.

"Lahaina is a close community. Pretty much everybody knew everybody. It (the emotion) comes in waves, and you try not to think about the customers who passed away or everybody who is still missing."

While Patterson and Francis did not know each other before the August wildfires, their lives likely intersected. Francis delivered mail, at times, in Patterson's neighborhood and knows exactly where she lived.

The official death toll is at 97, with many still missing. Approximately 2,200 structures were destroyed, the press release said.

Francis and his fellow carriers are delivering mail to customers who still have addresses. Patterson, who works as a compliance auditor for a helicopter tour operator, had to apply for a post office box.

While waiting in line, she was uplifted by "the Aloha spirit."

"A man who had lost everything was there with coolers, handing out drinks and snacks to people," she said.

"That's 'the Aloha spirit,' even if you need help, too, you help someone else."

"Everybody is doing whatever they can. Even if it feels small, it matters to somebody," Patterson said.

Other examples of the community spirit include an eye doctor offering free replacements for glasses, and a small shipping and mailing service providing free mailboxes and notary services.

Patterson urges people to "be really intentional" about how they support Maui.

Giving money directly to affected families and individuals is "most impactful," she believes.

She invites interested givers to visit Help Maui Rise, a vetted list of over 1,000 GoFundMe sites for direct giving.

Patterson and Francis are also partial to supporting the Maui Food Bank and the Maui Humane Society, both of which are performing heroic and tireless work.

Both alumni have adopted cats from the Maui Humane Society.

"I'm grateful I left when I did, and that my animals got out," she said, considering all the residents who lost their pets.

Patterson also feels grateful for her support system on Maui and the mainland.

"Many here don't have quite the extensive support system that we have, so we're fortunate in that way, too," she added. One of her supporters is her aunt Linda M. Barnes, a longtime, now-retired Penn College faculty member in occupational therapy assistant, the press release states.

The Friday before the fires, the Pattersons walked down to Lahaina's famous Front Street with friends who were visiting.

"We got gelato and watched the sunset," she reminisced.

"I'm so thankful that we took the time to do that. We didn't always. You get in the grind and don't always take the time to enjoy the things the visitors do."

"That was the last time we got to walk down Front Street and watch the sunset, Patterson told Penn College. "We were so fortunate to be where we were. We loved Lahaina. … It was our little perfect paradise."

The devastation to Lahaina is so immense, the alumni are uncertain of its future.

"It will take so long to rebuild Lahaina," Patterson said. "I'm sure it will be amazing, but it won't be the same."

"It'll be a long process. It's hard to wrap your mind around it all," Francis added. "People need to get back to their lives, but it will take a while."

Patterson continues to itemize and attempt to replace the important physical details lost in the fire, but grappling with the emotional shock and an uncertain future are entirely new territory to traverse.

"People keep asking if we'll stay," she shared. "It's hard to say. My work may change; Todd's work may change. Housing will be the deciding factor. Rates were already so high."

"If we're financially able to, we'd like to stay. We've adapted to life here. This is home. Lahaina was home," Patterson said.

"We're just riding the waves, and we'll see where they take us."