Hundreds of people don’t tend to go missing during wildfires, but the devastation that destroyed the town of Lahaina on the Hawaiian island of Maui was like no other.
Seattle Fire Lieutenant Ryan Nash and 74 other first responders with Washington Task Force 1 just got back from Maui over the weekend.
“It’s generally rare for us to go on a search-and-rescue mission for wildfires, but it seems like the way things are working right now that I think, unfortunately, we’re going to have more and more,” Nash said on Tuesday. “I actually spent my honeymoon there with my wife, so it’s one that is very close to my heart.” Washington Task Force 1 (WA-TF1) was formed in 1991. It’s on a short list of task forces that are deemed to be deployable by FEMA, consisting of a variety of organizations, including fire departments, hospitals, law enforcement, and public works.