SPOKANE, Wash. — A former Spokane resident is now seeking help after losing his home and belongings in the Maui wildfires.
Darcey Mason lived in Spokane for more than 30 years. He moved to Maui recently when he started having health issues. He says the island helped heal him.
"Health wise, it's just tremendous for me," Mason said. "Life changed big time."
Mason's life changed once again after his Lahaina home went up in flames in one of the deadliest wildfires in U.S. history.
"It was going up so fast that nobody could do anything," Mason said. "You couldn't put water on it, it was just amazing."
Mason says on the day of the fire, the town was blasted by strong winds. Being a handy man, he did what he could.
"I was running all over Lahaina helping my friends with their houses because stuff was coming through their windows and roofs were peeling off," Mason said. "Everybody got out of the storm and into the house and they didn't know the fire was coming because there was nobody to tell them."
Fortunately, Mason says he saw the fire and watched it grow. He managed to get his friend out of a house, but he couldn't warn everyone.
"I'm thinking there was other people that somebody didn't do that for," Mason said.
Mason says the day after the fire, he slept in his car. Now, he's in a shelter.
"There is a lot of help coming in," Mason said. "There's more food than you can eat right now so it's really cool about that."
Mason has set up a GoFundMe. He says donations will help with living costs and replace necessities lost in the fire.
"I was fortunate," Mason said. "I got my car out of there. I lost a few things, my surf boards, a lot of stuff but I'm not even worried about it. The thing I really lost was Lahaina."
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