NEW HOPE, Minn. — More than a week after the devastating Lahaina fire, one former Minnesota resident living in Lahaina is still feeling unsettled.
Last week, Brandon Pinney fled from his apartment as flames encroached on his neighborhood.
Pinney, who was born and raised in New Hope, moved to Lahaina three years ago.
Even though high winds that day blew over furniture in the yard, he didn't think twice about the potential impact.
"I didn't think there would be any imminent danger," he said.
Around 2:45 p.m. he started smelling smoke, but when he stepped outside it was still clear. Just 15 minutes afterward, he saw smoke billowing from homes across the street.
"I figured I had less than a minute," he said.
He threw his passport and a few checkbooks into a backpack. He grabbed a small suitcase and started pulling away.
He says there were a few things that didn't seem big in the moment when he was escaping the town, but realizes those seemingly small moments may have saved his life.
"There were two uncles on the side of the street when I was pulling out," he said. "They were pulling up this telephone wire that had fallen down, and my truck was just able to make it underneath."
After he made it past that street, he stopped on a dirt pullout to get his bearings.
"A truck stopped and he goes, you can't get out the way you're going," he said.
Pinney avoided the Lahainaluna route out of town. He says he believes he wouldn't be alive today if he attempted to evacuate through that road.
He spent a few days in his car and at a shelter until a friend took him in. Now, he has a longer-term home through the kindness of a stranger.
And despite it all, the born and raised Minnesotan says he'll stay on the islands.
"I decided that I do want to ride it out here on Maui and continue to make it my home," he said.
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