Volunteers from Samaritan's Purse help displaced residents search for meaningful personal items at their wildfire destroyed home on October 05, 2023 in Lahaina, Hawaii.
The dispatcher asked if he could drive the rig to get away from the fire. When he said he didn’t know how to drive an 18-wheeler, she asked him why he was in it."Ma’am, I need help, OK!" he said. "I’m getting burned up here." The dispatcher tried to gently reassure her that officers were in the area. But when she asked how old her mom was, the call dropped.A man called to say he and his wife were trapped because she couldn’t get down the four flights of stairs in their apartment building.
"Let me try my best to get a hold of somebody," the dispatcher said, "and try to send them your way."A woman called from Front Street and Baker Street to say she was trapped in traffic. Saying the fire was half a block away from her car, she asked where she could drive to safety because the smoke was too thick to get out and walk.
"We are caught in massive traffic and we’re covered in ashes and embers and there’s a lot of people honking and trying to get out of the road," she said. "The ashes are engulfing our car and the flames are going on our car."