Millions of dollars have been donated to GoFundMe campaigns, helping the people of Maui who were affected by the recent wildfires.
Last Wednesday, the crowdsourcing site announced to FOX Business that over $30 million had been collected to aid communities in Maui. A GoFundMe representative said that the donations came from over half a million individuals in more than 100 countries.
The crowdfunding site claims that all of the campaigns it has archived for wildfire relief have been checked by its security team.
Over $1.5 million has been donated to a single online campaign for the family of author Wayne Dyer by Fox News host Will Cain and others.
Since the fire started earlier this month, the flames on Maui have scorched hundreds of acres, and as of Monday, some fires were still only partly controlled. Maui officials said in a press statement that the Lahaina fire, the largest of the blazes, had burnt an estimated 2,170 acres.
The town of Lahaina took the worst of the fire’s destruction. The announcement states that the Lahaina fire has burnt 2,170 acres and is 90% controlled.
The Olinda blaze in central Maui has destroyed roughly 1,081 acres since it started on August 8. The Kula fire has scorched approximately 202 acres. About 85% of both fires have been controlled at this point.
As of August 12th, the Pulehu-Kihei wildfire was completely suppressed. The exact number of acres lost in this fire is unknown, but on August 15th, authorities believed 3,200 had been consumed.
Out of Maui’s entire size of 735 square miles, their estimations cover over 10 square miles.
The University of Hawaii’s Pacific Disaster Center estimated on August 12 that 2,200 structures were lost or damaged in the Lahaina fire, with about 86% being homes.
The price tag for the damage was estimated at $5.52 billion.
