Prayers, terror and a race to escape as wildfire bore down on Hawaiian town

FILE PHOTO: Yadira Ulloa, 55, sits outside her daughter's home in Lahaina after her home was destroyed during the Lahaina fire on the island of Maui in Hawaii, U.S., August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File photo

OLOWALU, Hawaii (Reuters) - Yadira Ulloa was pumping gas near the apartment building where she lived on the western side of Maui when the winds kicked up, blowing shingles off the roof and propelling the wildfire that would soon incinerate her town of Lahaina.

The winds from a distant hurricane were so fierce they shook her car, and as the fire approached, Ulloa began to pray. Her teen daughter, she realized, was alone in their apartment.