'You help anybody in trouble': Lahaina man describes fighting wildfires after being separated from son
Randy Courtemanche says he feared the worst when he got separated from his son while trying to escape the fires in Lahaina.
"I thought he was dead," he told ABC News. Courtemanche ran back home hoping that wasn't the case. Thinking his son may return, he began to fight the fire himself.
Courtemanche says he has lived in Lahaina for five years and has lived in Hawaii for over three decades. The apartment complex where he lives with his son Christian, a local surf instructor, is one of the only buildings left standing in the downtown area.
The fires have caused 111 fatalities at the time of this writing and that number is still expected to increase, according to Maui County. The blazes spread rapidly due to very dry conditions stemming from a drought combined with powerful winds.
Much of the historic town of Lahaina has been "destroyed," officials said, and the inferno has burned thousands of residential and commercial buildings to the ground.
Shortly after being separated from his son and assuming the worst, Courtemanche returned to his apartment building and went to work. For nearly eight hours, he says he ran around the perimeter of his complex fighting the fires.
"Every unit has a spigot and a hose," Courtemanche said, describing his apartment complex. "So I was going from fire to fire – my objective was to save these 60 units."
"I'd see in the corner of my eye that some building just caught on fire, and I'd run over there and get it out," he said. "And then I'd go to the next place and get another fire. And then people's vehicles were on fire, and I'd try to put them out."
Debris and ash were hurled throughout the area thanks to near-hurricane level winds. Some of that debris hit Courtemanche – who seemed to be wearing flip-flop sandals – fracturing both of his feet. Still standing, he carried on.
"I knew my feet were in bad shape but I didn't have time to worry about myself," he said. Courtemanche was captured in videos after the fire standing over the devastation with swollen feet and ankles. "I go, 'I can do something, I can help these people, I can put out these fires, I know I can,'" he said.
He says he turned his focus on his neighbors and community – which in part helped him cope with his immense uncertainty about his son's whereabouts.
"I love my neighbors so much, they are such great people," said Courtemanche. "When some came back, they hugged me – they started to cry and told me I did not have to do that, but I said, 'yes I did' … they are such good people, I love these guys."
Days later, Courtemanche described laying in ash inside his apartment complex when he heard someone yelling outside.
"I hear 'dad!'," he recalled seeing his son again for the first time. Christian had managed to escape the blaze and had been searching for him since they were separated. "He comes running to me and we just give each other a big hug and I'm still standing in the middle of all this… I love him so much… I couldn't believe it," he said.
Christian Courtemanche told ABC News that he snuck back into the area once the fire was controlled, paddleboarding out to the beaches of Lahaina to look for his father.
"I was just in disbelief," said Christian. "There he was, with the apartment … it was just him and those buildings."
Now, both are safe and thankful to be living with friends in a home relatively untouched by the fires. They are still helping others and volunteering when they can, crediting their community for the incredible "aloha" spirit.
"The Hawaiians have real aloha," said Courtemanche. "The community has come together as a whole. Aloha means a lot of things, but it also means you help your neighbor ... you help anybody in trouble."
