Maui firefighters lost house but kept fighting on wildfire front line

By GMA Team

On the front line of the Maui wildfire last week, two firefighters said they lost their own home as the fast-moving blaze surrounded them.

Aina Kohler and Jonny Varona, who are married, are veteran firefighters and Maui residents. Kohler was working when she responded to her own home and told ABC News' Whit Johnson that by then, there was no water supply available.

"I felt the hose line coming in from the hydrant -- the intake line -- and it was soft and I was like, 'There's no pressure, there's no water,'" Kohler recalled.

Courtesy of KITV

Aina Kohler, left, and Johnny Varona lost their own home in the Maui wildfire last week.

Kohler, who has been a firefighter for over a decade and is from Lahaina, also told Honolulu ABC affiliate KITV she'd never seen such a devastating wildfire in her career so far and described it as "an apocalypse" or "Armageddon."

"It was just fire and black everywhere. I've never seen anything like it. I'm from Lahaina and the wind that day was, I've never felt anything like that before," Kohler said.

"Our house were some of the last to burn down. We were way out of water. I'd never experienced anything like that, so for me personally, I thought a few times, I was like, 'Oh, here we go. I hope this isn't it,'" Kohler added.

Courtesy of Aina Kohler

The aftermath of the Maui wildfires in Lahaina is shown in this still from a video taken by firefighter Aina Kohler on Aug. 10, 2023.

The couple aren't alone in their personal tragedy.

"Two of the firefighters that was on our truck from the same station as us ... their houses were in this neighborhood. Their houses burned down while we [were] trying to keep it from spreading," Kohler said.

Kohler said 17 of the 18 firefighters who live in Lahaina have lost their homes.

Courtesy of Aina Kohler

The aftermath of the Maui wildfires in Lahaina is shown in this still from a video taken by firefighter Aina Kohler on Aug. 10, 2023.

Courtesy of Aina Kohler

The aftermath of the Maui wildfires in Lahaina is shown in this still from a video taken by firefighter Aina Kohler on Aug. 10, 2023.

The day their house burned, Varona evacuated with his and Kohler's two children. He said he was able to listen to his wife's voice via radio.

"It was actually incredibly relieving to hear her voice on the radio. Knowing they're still doing it, they still have a plan, that they're still trying and it's not so bad," Varona said.

Aina Kohler

Firefighter Aina Kohler shared photos of the aftermath following the Maui wildfire last week.

Kohler and Varona told KITV that although they've lost their home and their small businesses, they feel grateful they were able to make it out alive with their family and are committed to continuing to help their community as much as they can.

"There's people working overtime, you know, people whose houses have burned down are coming in, people who have lost loved ones are coming in and they're working extra," Varona said. "We're not doing anything heroic. We're doing our job. And we're doing it for the town that we live in, in the town that we love, the town she grew up in."

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said during a press conference Monday night that a "comprehensive investigation" has been launched following reports firefighters did not have enough water to fight the wildfire that has since become the fifth-deadliest in U.S. history. A representative for Hawaiian Electric said the water supply for fighting fires was dependent on electricity.

Green also said on Maui, there has been a great deal of water conflict for several years with limited water for both people and homes.