Indiana Task Force 1 team members gathered Saturday morning in Hawaii where they and other federal crews received orders to search burnt buildings.
MAUI, HAWAII — Officials from Indiana Task Force 1 (IN-TF1) are continuing their work in Maui, Hawaii as part of a search operation following the deadly fires there. Jay Settergren, Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief and IN-TF1 leader, told the Daily Reporter his 70 team members will likely be in Hawaii for at least 10 days or more, but will stay as long as needed.
“It just depends on how things go, on how we process things and clear all of the structures,” Settergren, a Hancock County resident, said.
Reports say 114 people have died, as of Monday, Aug. 21, in the western Maui fire, which was located in Lahaina. Officials there say Lahaina is now almost completely gone. The economic and cultural heart of the island was reduced to an ashen landscape in the deadliest U.S. fire in more than 100 years, officials there said.
Firefighters from around the state of Indiana with IN-TF1, flew to Hawaii a couple of days ago and hit the ground running Saturday morning when they got their orders. Settergren noted they’re going through the burnt area in what has now been deemed a “search” operation.
Settergren, along with three member of the Sugar Creek Township Fire Department, are part of the IN-TF1 deployment.
Settergren described the work IN-TF1 is doing as “methodical,” going back into fire-damaged structures, which is dangerous, to make sure everyone is accounted for.
“This isn’t like going in to search a building when a storm hits,” Settergren said. “These people were running from the fire and got caught inside, that’s what officials are finding.”
Settergren noted his team members are working in 85-degree weather with 45% humidity for between 10 to 12 hours each day after landing Friday. He said there was a stark contrast to the beautiful island where they landed to where they are now, some 30 minutes away, searching a devastated area.
“These fires, they completely overran the town,” Settergren said. “When you come into one of these areas and you see the devastation, it’s one of those things that is hard to wrap your mind around.”
Nearly two weeks after the deadly fire, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said some 1,050 people remain missing.
Federal officials noted on the IN-TF1 social media site that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working to identify, remove and safely dispose of household hazardous waste and disaster debris to protect Maui residents from environmental and health hazards.
This is the next step in the recovery process before the clearing of debris, the statement said.
