‘Devastating’: Emergency flights touch down at YVR from wildfire-ravaged Maui

Passenger, Jennifer Cordoba, told Global News when she arrived Thursday that seeing what happened in Maui was really sad and devastating.

Travellers began arriving at Vancouver’s International Airport Thursday morning from the Hawaiian island of Maui.

At least 36 people have died due to wildfires burning on the popular island destination. Hawaiian tourist town, Lahania, has been reduced to ashes.

Thousands of travellers have been scrambling to get out of Maui and tell Global News it has been chaos. Air Canada said Tuesday’s flight from Maui to Vancouver was cancelled.

Wednesday night the airline sent a larger, empty aircraft to pick people up. That was delayed but arrived Thursday morning, along with a WestJet flight.

“Twenty-four hours at the airport because our flight was cancelled,” traveller Edwardo Alvarez said. “There wasn’t any support whatsoever in terms of communication from WestJet representatives. People sleeping on the ground, feeling like homeless. That was my experience.”

Passenger, Jennifer Cordoba, told Global News when she arrived Thursday that seeing what happened in Maui was really sad and devastating.

“We were under the Banyan Tree and it’s all gone, it’s really sad,” she said. “It is changing fast and it’s really scary, but we’re really grateful that we got on our flight. We slept at the Maui Airport for 24 hours but that’s all you can do.”

The Lahaina Banyan Tree was planted in 1873 and was a tourist attraction in the community.