'I love my neighbors so much, they are such great people,' said Randy Courtemanche.
Randy Courtemanche speaks with ABC News in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug 17, 2023.Randy Courtemanche says he feared the worst when he got separated from his son while trying to escape the"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.
The apartment complex that Randy Courtemanche saved from burning in the Maui wildfire, in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug 9, 2023.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. The apartment complex that Randy Courtemanche saved from burning in the Maui wildfire, in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug 9, 2023."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.
Randy Courtemanche stands in front of an apartment complex he saved from burning in the Maui wildfire, in Lahaina, Hawaii, Aug 9, 2023.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 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.
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