Jeff Bezos, Lauren Sanchez pledge $100 million to help Maui wildfire recovery

Billionaire Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his fiancée Lauren Sanchez will donate $100 million to help rebuild Maui after the island was devastated by wildfires this week, Sanchez announced on Instagram.

“Jeff and I are heartbroken by what’s happening in Maui. We are thinking of all the families that have lost so much and a community that has been left devastated,” Sanchez said in a Friday Instagram post.

“The immediate needs are important, and so is the longer term rebuilding that will have to happen — even after much of the attention has subsided. Jeff and I are creating a Maui Fund and are dedicated $100 million to help Maui get back on its feet now and over the coming years as the continuing needs reveal themselves.”

Wildfires ravaged western Maui this week, completely destroying the popular tourist town of Lahaina and killing at least 80 people. Abnormally strong winds moved the fire quickly, trapping people in the town and forcing some into the ocean to escape the flames.

The disaster has also attracted the attention of other celebrities. Oprah Winfrey, a Maui resident, purchased aid for evacuees at shelters across the island earlier this week.

Local officials have compared the destruction to a “war zone.”

“The closest thing I can compare it to is perhaps a war zone or maybe a bomb went off. It was cars in the street, doors open, you know, melted to the ground. Most structures no longer exist,” Maui Mayor Richard Bissen said. “For blocks and blocks of this.”

“I’m familiar with what it looked like growing up here on Maui, especially with my mom working at one of the restaurants there … for 17 years. And so it doesn’t resemble anything that it looked like when I was growing up,” Bissen added.

President Biden made a natural disaster declaration for Hawaii on Friday, freeing up “all federal assets,” including Navy and Coast Guard forces, to assist Maui and Hawaii, he said.

Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez said Friday that her office would conduct a “comprehensive review” of the “critical decision-making and standing policies” before, during and after the fires.

“The Department of the Attorney General shares the grief felt by all in Hawaiʻi, and our hearts go out to everyone affected by this tragedy,” Lopez said in a statement.

“My Department is committed to understanding the decisions that were made before and during the wildfires and to sharing with the public the results of this review,” she added. “As we continue to support all aspects of the ongoing relief effort, now is the time to begin this process of understanding,” she added.