brenda arcangel has 70 years of memories in lahaina on the island of maui where she was born and raised the house where she lived affectionately called grandmas house has been in the native hawaiian family for generations it was a gathering place she told abc news sitting at just 900 square feet it housed over a dozen people at times throughout the years when i think of my grandmas house i think of love said arcangels daughter nasya lerma reflecting on the backyard celebrations the expansive garden and sleeping in the hammock surrounded by mango trees that house is one of the more than 2000 structures that have been destroyed by the lahaina wildfires more native hawaiians take survival into own hands amid mauis uncertain future elders in the community like arcangel say they worry about preserving their community their history and their lands in the aftermath of the deadly wildfires the familys historic home of lahaina which has been on the national register of historic places since 1962 used to be the capital of the kingdom of hawaii and holds lots of cultural importance to not just those who lived there but to the entirety of the hawaiian islands were gonna rebuild its gonna take time but we really need support arcangel who is raising money on gofundme to rebuild her home said grandmas house was lost in the destructive maui wildfires that hit lahaina courtesy of jeffery lerma grandmas house was an important bustling location for the nasya and jeffery lermas family in maui courtesy of jeffery lerma lerma recalled her grandmothers mom reminding the younger generations to hold onto the land and she feels a responsibility her kuleana to take care of those who came before her i just feel this responsibility to make that home for them again they dont want to live anywhere else she said they want to be home escaping the blaze nasya lerma and her husband jeffery had landed in maui from los angeles to visit nasyas family on aug 8 when they got a call from arcangel they were buying time for arcangel to come pick up their children from the airport so they could run errands thats when arcangel called telling them they shouldnt come to her side of the island she was calm saying she doesnt want them on the road as winds picked up and she was preparing in case of an evacuation she smelled smoke the lermas dropped everything to head over i kept begging my husband to keep both hands on the wheel because the car was pulling there were signs bent said nasya arcangel and family members across the generations banded together to evacuate as the smoke darkened the skies the winds were so strong that we had to hold each other arcangel said you know we take one step forward it took us back two steps they said their texts werent going through the sirens werent going off they said the