Lahaina natives describe harrowing scene as Maui wildfire raged on: "It's like a bomb went off"

For more than 220 years, Lahaina sat on a pedestal of cultural importance for Hawaii as the former capital of the Hawaiian kingdom, the home of an iconic banyan tree and a focal point for community gatherings.

Then, the unthinkable happened. 

"It's like a bomb went off," local resident Jannifer Williams told Reuters. "... It's gone."