Hawaii fires: How Pinky's famous truck saved lives in Lahaina

Lynette "Pinky" Iverson has been a fixture successful the Hawaiian municipality of Lahaina for years. Locals cognize her for her extravagantly self-decorated pickup motortruck and her chihuahua named Tiny.

That motortruck became a lifeline for galore arsenic she loaded "at slightest a dozen" radical onto the backmost of it and fled municipality connected Tuesday arsenic the wildfires spread.

"I got to my motortruck and it was already engulfed successful flames astir the tires," she told BBC News from the War Memorial Stadium exigency shelter, recalling however her ordeal began.

"I tried to prevention people, but for some, I wasn't capable to," she adds.

On Friday, authorities officials confirmed the decease toll had reached 67, making it officially the deadliest earthy catastrophe successful Hawaii's history.

The occurrence arrived arsenic she was spraying her gathering with water, successful the hopes of preventing falling embers from igniting it. But contempt her efforts, she was helpless arsenic she witnessed her ain location opening to drawback fire.

"One woman didn't privation to travel out. Another antheral was screaming help," she said of the hectic scene.

"By that clip we were engulfed successful the black, achromatic smoke," she said.

She was lone capable to drawback her car keys and Tiny earlier fleeing.

As we spoke, I noticed thing crawling astir successful the bedding lone inches distant from her dog. Without knowing what it was, I usage my notebook to fling it into the ground, wherever she squashed it with her purple cowboy boot.

It was a centipede, which is venomous, she and different evacuees successful the structure told me. Tiny could person died if stung, she added.

Ms Iverson was rattled by the ordeal and frustrated astir the cleanliness of the donated sheets astatine the shelter.

Without her phone, she says she's hopeful that her member successful Nevada volition spot that she spoke to the BBC and yet larn that she is safe.

Ms Iverson lived successful her locally celebrated motortruck for six years earlier yet being accepted into a lodging assemblage successful Lahaina for the disabled oregon elderly.

Now successful her 70s, she's hopeful that she'll beryllium capable to find a spot to unrecorded erstwhile again.

Steve Strode, a erstwhile commercialized diver who has lived successful Lahaina for 10 years, says helium is haunted by the neighbours helium was forced to permission down arsenic helium ran for his life.

Speaking from his furniture successful the aforesaid shelter, helium says determination was 1 disabled antheral successful his flat analyzable who needed assistance from aggregate radical successful bid to beryllium capable to flee.

But determination was nary clip to stitchery a radical to help, helium says. "I had to spell astir him," helium recalls.

He and his neighbour survived by utilizing their bicycles to scope impermanent information astatine the Safeway. The men, some successful their 60s, had to rhythm done flames that astatine times were arsenic gangly arsenic 10ft (3 meters) high

Wildfires connected Hawaii's Maui island, wherever the historical municipality of Lahaina is located, and Big Island began connected Tuesday night. Hurricane winds and adust upwind helped substance the flames. causing accelerated spread.

Thousands person been near stateless by the catastrophe and Maui has six shelters present successful operation.