First Responder Who Lost Home in Maui Dedicates Time to Find Missing Victims

After the wildfires in Maui destroyed his home, a first responder took it upon himself to find missing victims. In an exclusive interview with People , Ian Barnes, 34, opened up about why he decided to embark on this…

Rebecca GuzelAug 16, 20234 min read

Sponsored

“It got super dark, almost like it was nighttime. When that happened, I realized that we should move up north,” he added.

At the time, Barnes was living in a 5-story apartment building in one of the towns in Maui.

“The whole thing burned down,” he revealed.

Speaking on the search, Barnes, who specializes in water rescues said, “We did search and recovery on the jet skis out in front of Lahaina. And then I did that for a couple days.”

“Everybody’s doing something,” he noted.

Barnes continued, “The smoke was still coming off the land. There’s a lot of diesel and gas in the water because the harbor burned down.”

“A lot of boats floated out of the harbor that were stuck on the reef. A lot of debris in the water just from all the wind,” he witnessed.

Although he only has his car and two children left, Barnes told People he realized “what’s important when you have to evacuate.”

He shared:

“It’s just crazy. Pretty much the whole city’s gone. Everything. Most of the buildings are homes, so everyone’s displaced and I mean, Hawaii’s hard to live in in general, so it’s not like a lot of people had a lot of savings and all that stuff. Everyone’s kind of in the same boat. Everyone’s kind of worried about rebuilding and what they’re gonna do or if they had to move off island. A lot of jobs are gone too. All retail and restaurant jobs are gone. I don’t know if there’s enough jobs for everyone to even stay.”

To Barnes, Maui holds a special place in his heart after living there for over a decade.

“I’ve lived here 13 years. My kids were born here. This is all they know,” he said.

He continued, “This is my home now and I know they’ve given back so much to me, this community and all of people. And I just felt like if I could do anything, I had to.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Barnes and other families who were affected by the fires.

According to NBC News, over 100 people have been confirmed dead.