Fleetwood Mac‘s Stevie Nicks has shared a statement about the wildfires which have swept through Maui.
The singer-songwriter posted a lengthy statement on her Instagram page expressing her sadness about the fires which have devastated the island and fears for her family – see the full post below.
She wrote: “As I am sure you have heard – the island, Maui, where I own a house I have been staying at since the 80s – and the small village, city, most magical place on earth, Lahaina, burned to the ground over the last few days.
“And to make the situation worse my young niece, her husband, and their little boy had just arrived for a very needed vacation before she started up her school year (on her way to becoming a psychologist) for 10 days. They had one and a half days of fun and then – the fire started.”
Nicks continued: “The power went out at 5:12am (Tuesday morning) but they had no idea why – It was still out at noon, realising that many surrounding houses had also lost power. It was a mystery. My house is 15 to 20 minutes from Lahaina – but still no one knew about the fire. We knew here in Houston, but there was no way to get Jessi (my niece) on the phone. The entire area of Lahaina and everything around it was down. But here in Houston… we knew.”
She went on to say that the island “defined Fleetwood Mac”.
Nicks added: “There was no way to know that this amazing town that had survived so much for so long would burn down and disappear into the history books, leaving so much sadness, destruction, and death behind it in its wake.
“This island, in so many ways, defines Fleetwood Mac and me and our families. Mick [Fleetwood] and I came here in 1978, went up to Kula to look at a huge, beautiful house and stood in front of it listening to the gentle magical wind. He said to me, ‘I will live and die on this island.’ I knew he was telling the truth. John [McVie] also lived here in Maui for a long time – Christine [McVie] never lived here but visited many times.”
She continued: “My truth was that I wanted a house here just so I could spend time in Lahaina walking the streets; visiting the art galleries – sitting on the rock wall – Most all the opals I wear on my fingers came from a store on Front Street. I hope the sweet lady who owned that store was able to grab all her opals and run. I hope she made it out.”
Her comments come after Mick Fleetwood confirmed earlier this week that his restaurant on the island was one of the numerous buildings that burnt down.
So far 93 people have died since the fires broke out earlier this week, according to BBC News.