Las Vegas family still dealing with property issues a year after Maui wildfires

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) It’s been exactly one year since deadly wildfires destroyed much of the historic town of Lahaina. Many families still haven’t been able to return to the island including Kim Nguyen.

“My mom is doing pretty good, she still has trauma, not loss of memory, but her short-term memory it seems like, scatterbrained a lot for sure,” Kim Brunstad, Nguyen’s daughter said.

The 65-year-old lost her home in the wildfires and has been living with family over the past year. She’s been able to pay her bills thanks to social security benefits.

“She’ll be back here for a week or two, and then kind of decide whether she is going to stay here,” she said.

The wildfires killed 102 people, destroyed more than 2,000 buildings, and displaced nearly 10,000 residents. Nguyen has returned to check on her property twice but is still dealing with property issues.

“It is cleared, the house did not have homeowner’s insurance, unfortunately, and that is kind of where we are stuck, so it is try to raise funds to rebuild,” Brunstad said.

The goal is to return home one day.

“If she does go back to Maui she does plan to live with a friend, helping her, they are opening a gelato store that her family friend owned in Lahaina, and worked for her there,” she added.

Nguyen is part of a lawsuit to help homeowners who can’t afford to rebuild and don’t want to sell their property. She plans to return to the island later this month.

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