Bellingham Businesses, Events Support Relief Efforts for Maui Fire Victims

credit: Ala Las Vegas Annual Conference & Exhibition 2014

The residents of Lahaina, Hawaii, are picking up the pieces after a wildfire destroyed thousands of homes and forced thousands of visitors to leave the island.

The Maui News reports that the 35,000-acre fire has burned through more than 700 homes and other buildings in the coastal town, which was hit hard by the island's first major wildfire in more than 40 years.

"It's just a very, very special place.

I took a leave of absence and spent a month on Maui.

So it's just a very, very special place," says Janet Lightner, who owns Boundary Bay Brewery with her husband, Ed Bennett.

"We were on the other side of this, where the community just rallied and furnished the empty rental that we just happen to have," she says.

"And in 72 hours, we were back in a house."

Lightner and Bennett have a personal connection to Maui: They were married there last year and have family living on the island.

In Washington state, meanwhile, the Lynden PCRA Rodeo raised more than $10,000 for the Maui Strong Fund during its two-night event.

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