Matthew Thayer, a Harbor Creek High School and Kent State University graduate has had a stellar 43-year-career with The Maui News newspaper. He's been honored with more than 90 awards for his work as a photojournalist. But nothing prepared him for the story unfolding now on Maui, the island he's called home for more than four decades.

Thayer was covering horse evacuations from the upcountry fires in Maui on Tuesday, August 8, when his editor at The Maui News sent him to Lahaina.  The wild fire officials thought was out, turned out to be anything but finished.

Thayer, with the newspaper since an internship in 1980, has covered all kinds of stories across his career. "But nothing like this," he said.  "This is the biggest story we've had, the biggest natural disaster in Hawaii, in modern Hawaiian history."

In an interview on Zoom, Matthew Thayer admitted that he drove as close as he could to Lahaina, then slipped a police line, hiking about a mile and a half into the community.  He said that's what news people do to "get the story."  Then he found himself in the midst of the fast moving fire that would level Lahaina.

With the fire rapidly spreading, traveling an estimated 60 miles per hour, most residents were evacuating, Thayer said, leaving only the homeless behind.  He watched as a young man on a skateboard bravely helped a man escape the fast approaching flames. "This kid zoomed in with a skateboard, he had a fire extinguisher, I don't know where he got that, probably from the shopping complex that later burned, and he saves that man's life, talks him out, gets him away from the flames, and I hope they're both okay," Matthew said.

 Thayer's images of two historic churches that went up in flames before his eyes, have been picked up by the Associated Press, and shared by news organizations around the world.  He took a chance to capture that now well-published image.  "I almost didn't go up there, it was dodgy, the Salvation Army was about to go up, but I got up there and there was a Hawaiian man watching his church burn, he was quite shook."  Thayer said the man wanted to fight the flames, but he told him to go home, get his precious possessions and evacuate.  Thayer later learned that the man and his home were spared.

While some structures randomly survived, most of the community of Lahaina was decimated.  Everywhere Thayer was that day was wiped out, something he would see for himself from the air, joining an AP flyover two days later. "Flying over Lahaina, seeing the widespread devastation, it was almost too much to comprehend," Thayer said.  "The town is gone, just reduced to ash and rubble."

But this story, the biggest in Matthew Thayer's 43-year-career isn't going away soon. "It's going to be with us to the end of my career.  The tragedy is beyond belief, the loss of life and property and what it's going to do to our economy. There are so many questions that we'll get to when the time is right," he added.

As Maui wrestles with all the factors that contributed to the scope of the tragedy there will be many lessons from this disaster.  Already Thayer knows which of those lessons is most important. "The takeaway is -- you tell the people you love, you love 'em.  You never know...you never know," he trailed off with emotion.

After 7 straight days of covering the story, Matthew Thayer took a little time away on Monday, but was right back at it on Tuesday.  He hopes that people who want to help will understand that their support will be needed for the long term. 

He said much of Maui is still open and ready for visitors.  Thayer believes that tourists should come to help the economy. He said people who want to donate money should be wary of scams.  He recommends helping through the Red Cross or Maui Strong.