Local team from Empact International deploying to help wildfire victims in Maui

The two members of the non-profit will reach Hawaii early in the afternoon. They expect there will be a lot of people who are displaced and once they find a place where help is needed, they'll call in the rest of the team.

SEATTLE - Local members of the Empact International team are deploying to Maui Saturday morning to help with the wildfire disaster.

"The fires have affected much of Western Maui and so, the local officials are pretty overwhelmed," said Sil Wong, the Empact International Logistics Unit Coordinator and Board of Directors President.

Wong has responded to disasters all across the globe. In 2022, FOX 13 spoke with her after she returned from assisting with humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

"The catastrophic wildfires that we saw that have just burned all the way through," said Wong. "It is as bad as any disaster I have ever been to."

Like many teams of local emergency responders deploying this week, Wong says they will first assess the situation after arrival. Wong says she and her teammate will determine where the need is greatest and then will start planning logistically.

"We are expecting there are a lot of people who are displaced," she said.

The team will make contact with the civil defense, local agencies and other non-governmental organizations to determine which additional team members to call in.

"One component is the search and rescue. We also have the logistics component, we can help bring in aid, we can help with intake for shelters. There is a vast number of things we can do as a logistics unit. We have a medical unit, we also have our search dogs," said Wong.

Maui fire resources

The non-profit previously worked with civil defense officials in Hawaii after responding to hurricanes there in the past. Team members also have personal connections in Maui, so Wong says they will be staying in tents on a friend's lawn in order to save hotel and home rental space for those that lost their homes.

Wong says that although this will be her 19th disaster deployment, she says this one is more personal.

"We’ve all known people from Hawaii, or we have been or have close ties there, so this hits close to home for us," said Wong.

The team is expected to touch down in Maui at around noon Saturday. Wong says once they decide who to deploy, the rest of the team can have boots on the ground within 24–48 hours of being called up.

Wong says the best way that people can help is to donate to their favorite organization or charity that's helping in Maui.

"Everybody can do something, whether or not that’s donating a dollar or having a fundraiser with a group of friends. We all can do something. It's easy to feel helpless when we watch these things on tv and wonder how we can help, but we call can do something and that's how we all get the help that we need when individuals say, I can do something," said Wong.