Oprah Winfrey opens her private road during Maui fire to help evacuations | CNN (2024)

FAQs

Oprah Winfrey opens her private road during Maui fire to help evacuations | CNN? ›

In particular, the fires have devastated Lahaina, a town on Maui. It's not the first time Winfrey has helped out in times of wildfires. In 2019, she opened a private road on her property in Maui to help people quickly escape a brush fire that broke out.

Winfrey shared on X that she had opened her private road to help citizens evacuate on July 12, 2019. "Access to the road was given to county officials immediately.

The stars helped establish the People's Fund of Maui, which will give direct payments of $1,200 a month to residents displaced by the wildfires.

For Oprah Winfrey, the deadly wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui hit close to home. So the media mogul, who owns multiple properties on the island, rushed to volunteer at evacuation shelters set up to help displaced residents.

A spokesperson for Oprah denied that she hired a private firefighting team. Oprah's properties in Maui were at a distance from the wildfires. After recent wildfires in Maui killed 115 people, Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson established the “People's Fund of Maui” to aid the victims' recovery.

Bezos next purchased a $78 million compound located on La Perouse Bay, a price tag that set a record for priciest home on Maui. In a rather unusual move, Bezos bought out the holding company that owns the land rather than purchasing the land outright.

Oprah Winfrey, a part-time resident of Maui for 15 years, owns a home on the island and even has a private road. Oprah Winfrey, a part-time resident of Maui for 15 years, owns a home on the island and even has a private road.

Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson have committed $10 million to make direct payments to people on Maui who are unable to return to their homes because of the wildfires, through a new fund they announced Thursday.

Today, the Hali'imaile General Store is renowned for its beautifully plated fresh meals made with locally sourced ingredients. It's rumored to be a favorite of Oprah Winfrey's as well!

Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson started their initiative last month. The fund promises to give money directly to people affected by the historic wildfires on Maui. The pair seeded the program by giving a combined $10 million and asked the public to fund the rest through donations.

Does Oprah own a Hawaiian island? ›

A year ago, Oprah Winfrey scooped up 850 acres on Maui for $6.4 million, adding to the 1,280 acres she already owned on the island. Set inland, her (mostly contiguous) property extends over green hills into a forest preserve on the slopes of the Haleakala volcano.

And not just any road, either: Oprah's road is concrete and asphalt 12 feet across. Goodfellow Brothers paved it in December 2010. The road stretches from the water tank at Kealakapu Road near Piilani Highway in Kihei to Keokoa, near Haleakala Highway.

Oprah is perhaps the most famous celebrity that lives on Maui. She purchased the Thompson Ranch, a historic piece of property on Mount Haleakala with panoramic views of the ocean and the central valley of Maui. Oprah also purchased a 63 acre piece of land in Hana so no one could develop the land.

While Winfrey's exact address on the island is unknown, her home is situated in a rural area near the Kula Forest Reserve to the southwest of the island—an hour's drive from Lahaina and a region that was spared from the three large infernos that ripped across parts of the island last week.

Oprah Winfrey has sold the other half of her Montecito estate to Jennifer Aniston. According to The Dirt, the 4,320-square-foot estate went for $14.8 million. The estate was built in 1998 and sits on 1.03 acres of land. It has 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms.

“Oprah's road is concrete and asphalt 12 feet across. Goodfellow Brothers paved it in December 2010. The road stretches from the water tank at Kealakapu Road near Piilani Highway in Kihei to Keokoa, near Haleakala Highway.

According to a sales deed obtained by KITV4, Oprah has just purchased a whopping 870 acres of land in Kula, the central part of Maui, to the tune of nearly $6.6 million. The land was purchased from Ulupalakua Ranch, KITV4 reports.

Nestled in the slopes of Mount Haleakala, a 10,000-foot volcanic peak, Winfrey's secluded farmhouse getaway features a wraparound porch that appeals to her rural upbringing. “I love, love, love my house,” Winfrey told Oprah.com in 2006. “It's a gem, so sweet and exquisite. Such a real, normal house.