Oprah forced to open up private land as panicked residents flee Hawaii fire
Oprah Winfrey has been forced by fire officials to open up her private road at her Hawaii home for fire evacuations as brush fires continue to spread.
Fire officials have ordered thousands of residents to evacuate the Kihel and Maalaea areas and Oprah has been made to give access to the private road leading up to her ranch.
She The talk-show host claimed she "immediately" granted access for the fire officials to her private land "many hours" before Twitter users demanded her to do so.
Panicked esidents took to social media to demand she open up her road.
"There's a huge brush fire on Maui right now! People are trying to evacuate Kihei-my husband and son included! If you would kindly share the code to your gate/road, folks can evacuate through Kula," one begged.
Another tweeted her directly to plead: @Oprah Maui is on fire consider opening the ranch road so we can get upcountry."
A third person even claimed that people would "burn to death" if Oprah didn't open her road to the public, adding, "they’re literally choking to death with no way out".
However, the 65 year old talk show queen reassured everyone that access had been granted.
"Hi there Jack, Access to the road was given to county officials immediately. This was many hours ago. Hoping for the safety of all," she replied.
Hawaii's governor David Ige praised her decision.
"A big mahalo to Oprah for giving mauicounty access to your private road for use to assist in the Mauifire ," he tweeted.
Winfrey owns 1,000 acres of land on the island of Maui and her ranch has a four-mile road.
It comes after she recently invited 10 Weight Watchers members to her Maui home to celebrate their "journey of self-improvement".
They were flown to her home in Maui to join her for a meal and celebrate their achievements.
She posted a photo on her Instagram of them toasting a cheers with coconuts in her beautiful garden.
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