Kevin Tanaka, his wife, Saane Tone-Tanaka and their family arrived just after sunrise Friday at Hanaka‘o‘o Beach Park to participate in a paddle-out to honor four kupuna family members who died trying to escape the Aug. 8, 2023 wildfires in Lahaina and a fifth family kupuna who died in the days before.

“This year,” Tanaka said, “It’s a little less painful.”

He and other family went into Lahaina after the fires to discover that the family home near the old Sugar Mill had burned to the ground. Fifty yards from the house, they found the remains of their loved ones in their car, which had been trapped by another vehicle.

Tanaka nodded to his wife and said, “it was hard telling her we found them,” he said.

They were among an estimated 1,000 people who gathered at Maui’s Hanaka‘o‘o Beach Par

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