Fort Liberty newlyweds help wildfire relief effort while on honeymoon in Maui

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — The wildfire is no longer a threat, but the road to recovery for thousands of Lahaina, Hawaii, residents are just starting.

The Red Cross is helping survivors out of shelters and into hotels, where they can stay for at least 7 to 8 months.

Amid so much heartbreak, there are also many stories of hope.

While on their honeymoon in Maui, two newlywed Officers from Fort Liberty, Captain Lauren Brunner and First Lieutenant Beau Brunner, sprang into action to help battle the raging fires instead of fleeing to safer ground.

They could see the smoke in the distance and knew they had to do something to help.

Hours later, they went down to the Coast Guard and said, “How can we help.”

“There are shingles, debris, all this stuff just flying in the air.” Captain Lauren said.

Raging winds made the couple realize they needed to get out of Lahaina and back to their hotel a town over. From their balcony, smoke was covering Lahaina.

“At this point, we didn’t realize that Lahaina was burning,” Lauren said.

While out stocking up on supplies, the Brunners got stuck in traffic for twelve hours. Eventually, the two soldiers couldn’t sit idle anymore.

“We’re like we need to help; we need to do something we can’t just sit around and just wait,” Lauren said.

They went down to the harbor and were welcomed onto a ship to help bring supplies to people in Lahaina.

“It was probably like thousands of pounds of water bottles, food, clothes, towels, I mean all kinds of stuff,” Lauren said.

They quickly learned the magnitude of the destruction from a crew member on the ship.

“He tells us my house is gone. I’ve lost everything,” Lauren said. “But the thing is you would have never known if you didn’t have a conversation with him.”

Resolve in the face of tragedy on display.

“I can’t even imagine being in that situation where you’ve just lost everything and you’re going to go out there and be like no I’m going to go out there. I’m going to help anyone and everyone.”

Now back in Sanford, Lauren thinks of all the people she met in Lahaina during the early part of their honeymoon.

“You just hope and pray that they were able to make it out alive,” Lauren said.

A honeymoon spent putting service before self. Lauren told WRAL news she can’t stress enough how much people in Maui need support. She says the burning smell that permeated the air will stay with her forever.