Photo:Credit: Ian BarnesIan Barnes was off duty when theMaui fires ravaged his home. After getting his two young kids to safety, the first responder joined the search and rescue efforts, working around the clock trying to find the people still missing afterjumping into the oceanto flee the deadly Hawaiian fires.“I felt like I needed to go to work and help wherever I could,” Barnes, a 34-year-old Ocean Safety Officer, which is under the Fire Department in Maui, tells PEOPLE.“The least I could do is go to work and go try and find someone that needs help that had to jump in the water in the middle of the night and is actually still out there," he adds. “Or find closure for somebody that is missing somebody that jumped in the water.”After becomingthe deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in over a century, thedeath toll rise to 99on Monday, and officials said earlier this week that there could bearound 1,000 missing.When the fires began on Aug. 8, Barnes was hanging out with his two kids, ages 4 and 6. The power had been off since 4 a.m., so he ran out to buy ice and water.“I drove through some fire on the highway to get back to the apartment and then got all the stuff outta the fridge into the cooler,” he says.“Then like 30 minutes later you could see smoke kind of going over the building and it shaded out the sun. It got super dark, almost like it was nighttime,” he recalls. “When that happened, I realized that we should move up north.”He took his kids to a friend’s house a few miles away. “Then the wind shifted, and we decided that we had to get out of there,” he adds.Ian Barnes and kids.Credit: Ian BarnesThe following day, he still had his two kids with him, but after reconnecting with their mother, he went into work Thursday.“We did search and recovery on the jet skis out in front of Lahaina. And then I did that for a couple days,” says Barnes, who specializes in water rescues.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.He had been scheduled for a week of vacation on the mainland for a week, but he stayed on island instead, helping.“Everybody’s doing something,” he says. “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.”Barnes lived in a 5-story apartment building in Lahaina. “The whole thing burned down,” he says.Besides his car, the only thing Barnes saved was his two kids. “You realize what’s important when you have to evacuate,” he says.“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,” he says. “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.“Ian Barnes and kids.Credit: Ian BarnesAGoFundMepage was established to help Barnes and other families who lost their homes in the deadly fire.“I’ve lived here 13 years. My kids were born here. This is all they know. 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,” he says.
Photo:Credit: Ian Barnes
Credit: Ian Barnes
Ian Barnes was off duty when theMaui fires ravaged his home. After getting his two young kids to safety, the first responder joined the search and rescue efforts, working around the clock trying to find the people still missing afterjumping into the oceanto flee the deadly Hawaiian fires.“I felt like I needed to go to work and help wherever I could,” Barnes, a 34-year-old Ocean Safety Officer, which is under the Fire Department in Maui, tells PEOPLE.“The least I could do is go to work and go try and find someone that needs help that had to jump in the water in the middle of the night and is actually still out there,” he adds. “Or find closure for somebody that is missing somebody that jumped in the water.”After becomingthe deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in over a century, thedeath toll rise to 99on Monday, and officials said earlier this week that there could bearound 1,000 missing.When the fires began on Aug. 8, Barnes was hanging out with his two kids, ages 4 and 6. The power had been off since 4 a.m., so he ran out to buy ice and water.“I drove through some fire on the highway to get back to the apartment and then got all the stuff outta the fridge into the cooler,” he says.“Then like 30 minutes later you could see smoke kind of going over the building and it shaded out the sun. It got super dark, almost like it was nighttime,” he recalls. “When that happened, I realized that we should move up north.”He took his kids to a friend’s house a few miles away. “Then the wind shifted, and we decided that we had to get out of there,” he adds.Ian Barnes and kids.Credit: Ian BarnesThe following day, he still had his two kids with him, but after reconnecting with their mother, he went into work Thursday.“We did search and recovery on the jet skis out in front of Lahaina. And then I did that for a couple days,” says Barnes, who specializes in water rescues.Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.He had been scheduled for a week of vacation on the mainland for a week, but he stayed on island instead, helping.“Everybody’s doing something,” he says. “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.”Barnes lived in a 5-story apartment building in Lahaina. “The whole thing burned down,” he says.Besides his car, the only thing Barnes saved was his two kids. “You realize what’s important when you have to evacuate,” he says.“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,” he says. “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.“Ian Barnes and kids.Credit: Ian BarnesAGoFundMepage was established to help Barnes and other families who lost their homes in the deadly fire.“I’ve lived here 13 years. My kids were born here. This is all they know. 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,” he says.
Ian Barnes was off duty when theMaui fires ravaged his home. After getting his two young kids to safety, the first responder joined the search and rescue efforts, working around the clock trying to find the people still missing afterjumping into the oceanto flee the deadly Hawaiian fires.
“I felt like I needed to go to work and help wherever I could,” Barnes, a 34-year-old Ocean Safety Officer, which is under the Fire Department in Maui, tells PEOPLE.
“The least I could do is go to work and go try and find someone that needs help that had to jump in the water in the middle of the night and is actually still out there,” he adds. “Or find closure for somebody that is missing somebody that jumped in the water.”
After becomingthe deadliest wildfire in the U.S. in over a century, thedeath toll rise to 99on Monday, and officials said earlier this week that there could bearound 1,000 missing.
When the fires began on Aug. 8, Barnes was hanging out with his two kids, ages 4 and 6. The power had been off since 4 a.m., so he ran out to buy ice and water.
“I drove through some fire on the highway to get back to the apartment and then got all the stuff outta the fridge into the cooler,” he says.
“Then like 30 minutes later you could see smoke kind of going over the building and it shaded out the sun. It got super dark, almost like it was nighttime,” he recalls. “When that happened, I realized that we should move up north.”
He took his kids to a friend’s house a few miles away. “Then the wind shifted, and we decided that we had to get out of there,” he adds.
Ian Barnes and kids.Credit: Ian Barnes
The following day, he still had his two kids with him, but after reconnecting with their mother, he went into work Thursday.
“We did search and recovery on the jet skis out in front of Lahaina. And then I did that for a couple days,” says Barnes, who specializes in water rescues.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
He had been scheduled for a week of vacation on the mainland for a week, but he stayed on island instead, helping.
“Everybody’s doing something,” he says. “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.”
Barnes lived in a 5-story apartment building in Lahaina. “The whole thing burned down,” he says.
Besides his car, the only thing Barnes saved was his two kids. “You realize what’s important when you have to evacuate,” he says.
“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,” he says. “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.”
AGoFundMepage was established to help Barnes and other families who lost their homes in the deadly fire.
“I’ve lived here 13 years. My kids were born here. This is all they know. 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,” he says.
source: people.com
