On Aug. 8, nine firefighters were trapped in the Lahaina inferno. With no way out, they sheltered inside a fire engine, sharing oxygen from air tanks, amid heat their captain later described as “like a blow torch.”
One of them was Tanner Mosher, a 26-year-old firefighter from Moloka’i. He jumped into a nearby fire vehicle and attempted to clear a path for their escape.
“On that day in the face of insurmountable odds and adversity, one of our very own Moloka'i boys faced a situation that tested the limits of his physical and emotional endurance," said Hanale Lindo, Maui Fire Department's assistant chief of operations.
"When fellow Maui County firefighters on two separate fire engines were trapped in what would have been a life-ending situation, a hero was able to emerge.”
Mosher launched the vehicle over a barricade and downed power lines, dodging obstacles through dense smoke. Using a nearby police car, he made it back to his colleagues and got them all to safety.
They returned to fighting the fire that evening, even as some of their own homes burned.
“If you didn’t do what you did, our department would have lost eight personnel, including you," said Lindo. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Tanner.”
Despite his lifesaving actions, Mosher said their efforts that day felt insufficient.
“My gratitude for the community and my apologies to all the Lahaina people and community that we did try our best," he said, his voice full of emotion. "But I feel like I speak for everyone in the department and the community when we feel like it wasn’t enough.”
He spoke as he was honored by the Maui County Council with a resolution recognizing his heroism.
Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura said actions like Mosher’s represent both the department and the community.
“He represented in that moment all of the first responders on Maui as well as all of the community members that were doing the same thing, fighting the same fight that we were, trying to help their neighbors, trying to get their own families and people they didn’t even know, out of that area,” Ventura said.
Mosher gave credit to firefighter Tre Evans-Dumeran, who died on duty early last year while responding to flooding.
“I don’t feel like I would have made the choices I made today if it wasn’t for my friend and coworker Tre Evans-Dumeran so I’d like to pay respect to him," Mosher said.
"It’s proof that firefighters can die in this job and he was a great friend and inspiration to me, and when I was thinking about everything, I was thinking about him, and it helped me make my choices that I made that day.”
