comedy club<\/a> on Maui. Those plans have now been shelved after the site was destroyed by the wildfire.<\/strong><\/p>\nBack on the mainland, Barnhart often performs at the Delirious Comedy Club in Las Vegas. He’s also scheduled to perform on Norwegian Cruise Line ships later this year.<\/p>\n
Barnhart realizes the devasting fires are no laughing matter, and is looking toward the future following his harrowing brush with Mother Nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrateful we\u2019re alive and counting our blessings,\u201d he tweeted late this week.<\/p>\n
53 Perish<\/h2>\n
As of Friday morning, 53 people in Hawaii had perished as a result of the wildfire, CNN<\/em> reported, with the town of Lahaina being particularly hard hit.<\/p>\n\u201cWe will continue to see loss of life,\u201d Hawaii Gov. Josh Green predicted on Thursday. \u201cLahaina, with a few rare exceptions, has been burned down. Without a doubt, it feels like a bomb was dropped on Lahaina.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some 11,000 people on Maui remained without power as of Thursday night. Many were forced to move to shelters or find other temporary housing.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe fire began on Tuesday and dry conditions and strong winds<\/a> caused the blaze to spread. Since then, firefighters have made progress in battling the blaze, which was 80% contained as of early Friday.<\/p>\nThe wildfire surprised island residents. An emergency siren system did not activate, the Associated Press<\/em> reported.<\/p>\nRed Cross Responds<\/h2>\n
Nevada residents and businesses are donating to charities to help impacted residents of Hawaii. The two states have a close relationship<\/a>, with travel between Nevada and Hawaii being very popular. And on Friday, Barb Kramer, a disaster relief volunteer of the American Red Cross of Northern Nevada, is scheduled to leave for Hawaii, according to Reno TV station KRNV<\/em>.<\/p>\nKramer, who has provided aid in disasters some 20 times over a decade, will remain in Maui for at least three weeks.<\/p>\n