‘Nobody can help me’: Desperate search for father, feared dead in Hawaii wildfire

An Adelaide woman is continuing her desperate search for her father, who she has not heard from for six days after his home was destroyed in the horror Maui wildfires.

An Adelaide nurse desperately searching for her unwell father, who is feared to have died in the devastating Maui wildfires, said local authorities have left her in the dark.

Shirley McPherson has called Hawaiian authorities and international consulates to gather any information on the whereabouts of her father Alfie Rawlings who was last seen at Hale Mahaolu Eono, at Lahaina – a group of assisted living units and one of the first buildings to perish in the wildfires.

Ms McPherson, who has not heard from her father in six days, told FIVEaa local authorities have not been able to shed any light on her father’s location.

“They don’t answer, no one answers the phone,” she said.

“Nobody can help me really.”

Great Grandfather Alfie Rawlings was last seen at Hale Mahaolu Elua assisted living units. Picture: Facebook

Mr Rawlings had been living in Maui for over 30 years after moving there from Boston. Picture: Facebook

She told 7News she feared the worst as there was nothing left of his home.

“It’s completely flattened, it’s just turned to ash, so I presume that he’s died,” she said.

“It’s the not knowing.”

“They’re walking all over all the stuff and you think ‘that could be my dad you’re stepping all over,’” she said. Mr Rawlings who is originally from Scotland, had been living in Maui for over 30 years after moving there from Boston.

“The past three weeks he hasn’t been feeling very well,” Ms McPherson said.

“He’s been stuck in his wheelchair, an electric wheelchair, and he’s been in and out of hospital so he’s not been able to get out of his unit unless he’s taken by ambulance.”

More than 2200 structures were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina according to official estimates totalling $5.5 billion in damage and leaving thousands homeless.

The wildfires has reportedly claimed 99 lives as rescue efforts continue.

Ms McPherson heard about the devastating fires from a friend who usually checks in on Mr Rawlings.

“She told me that the place was on fire and she’d been trying for an hour to get my dad and the lines were all down – communication was completely gone,” she said.