WASHINGTON — President Biden said Wednesday while discussing wildfire devastation in Maui that his Delaware house “almost collapsed” from a small kitchen fire nearly two decades ago — after telling survivors last week that firefighters
“ran into flames” to rescue first lady Jill Biden.
The 80-year-old president invoked the tiny 2004 blaze at his Wilmington abode while saying residents of the Hawaiian island won’t be allowed in the damage zone until potentially toxic debris is removed.
“If anybody in Maui is listening, you lost everything … and we’re doing everything we can to move heaven and earth to help you … We’ve already dedicated $24 million to the removal of hazardous material left behind in the fire’s wake … you got to take out the polluted, dangerous stuff,” Biden said in the White House Roosevelt Room.
“It’s going to be frustrating as the devil for people, they’re going say, ‘Why cant I go back? The storm is over, why can’t I go back to see if I can find that wedding ring, or find that album?'” Biden went on, appearing to conflate the Aug. 8 wildfire with Hurricane Idalia.
“It’s really, really tough,” Biden added. “I haven’t done anything like that, but I — lightning struck my house, we had to be out of that house for about seven months while it was repaired because so much damage was done to the house and half of the house almost collapsed.”
