It didn’t take long for fallout from this week’s devastating wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui to reach Huntington Beach, California.
Edison High School’s varsity football team had been scheduled to depart Aug. 10 for a nine-day visit to Maui. The trip has been scrapped, however, due to fire damage in the coastal town of Lahaina and elsewhere on the island.
The Chargers’ scheduled games Aug. 12 against Baldwin High in Wailuku and Aug. 18 against Lahainaluna in Lahaina have been canceled leaving huge holes in the team’s schedule.
“Right now, our thoughts just go out to the community in Hawaii, and hope they are able to weather this storm, so to speak,” Edison Assistant Principal Ed Begany told The Epoch Times. “It’s unfortunate. I feel bad for our families and our program, but our thoughts go to Lahaina. Hopefully their community can rebound from this.”
The nightmarish wildfires fanned by Hurricane Dora passing south of the Hawaiian Islands were responsible for at least 93 deaths, untold property damage, and massive evacuations as of Aug. 12, according to Maui officials.
The cancellation of Edison’s trip became official Aug. 9, but not without some challenges of its own. Power and telephone outages on Maui made communication between respective school officials difficult.
“The decision was kind of made for us,” said Mr. Begany, who also oversees Edison athletics. “We’re not going to put our kids and our families in harm’s way. The hotel we were going to stay in has evacuated. It’s devastating, obviously. We’ve been working real hard to go. It’s a bonding concept any time you’re able to experience that.”
