California couple recount harrowing experience before locals saved them from Maui fires

By SADE BROWNE

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    CLARKSBURG, California (KOVR) — A Yolo County couple vacationing in Maui was saved by locals minutes after wildfire set their car ablaze.

The couple from Clarksburg is thankful to be alive but, more importantly, to the family that saved them as they were stranded at a parking lot seeking shelter.

Don and Karen Clark recalled the moments to CBS Sacramento while rewatching videos taken while stranded.

“We’re still in this parking lot area; you keep trying to find new spots to go,” Don said.

“Now and again, you see these rush of embers, like ‘oh, my gosh,’ ” Karen said.

The Clarks sought shelter at an outlet mall parking lot in an attempt to avoid the smoke, wind, and flames of the Maui fires. The event has now been declared the deadliest natural disaster in Hawaii’s history and the deadliest U.S. wildfire of the past century, with at least 89 people dead as of Saturday night, and that number is expected to rise.

Don and Karen were staying in Kaanapali, which is north of Lahaina.

“We lost power. We knew because of the winds; we lost power for the day,” Karen said. “So we thought, ‘Oh let’s go and enjoy our day elsewhere.’ “

That’s when they traveled south of Lahaina, seeing little danger and not expecting the fires would jump the stretch of the beach. As they were heading back to their stay, they realized, “There are no flames at this point, but the smoke is getting worse,” Don said.

Following detour after detour, and within moments of seeking shelter at the parking lot, the Clarks were rescued by a local family, Jayson and Anela Cabanilla, who alerted them that their car caught on fire.

“We hear this honking at the same time…” Karen said.

“They saw our car on fire,” Don said.

“They let us get in with them,” Karen said. “That was very … they saved our lives.”

Once the road opened again that Tuesday evening, the Clarks and the Cabanillas were able to get out safely.

The Clarks said they were able to book a hotel and a flight home. The couple arrived at the airport on Saturday morning as terminals were busy with tourists and locals. They arrived safely back home to Clarksburg.

The Clarks say that if it wasn’t for the Cabanillas that saved their lives and the local workers providing them help with calls, it would be a very different story.

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