This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
A Maui firefighter who was swept into a storm drain on Jan. 27 while responding to flooding in Kihei died this morning after fighting for his life for a week. In a news release today Maui County announced the death of 24-year-old Tre’ Evans-Dumaran.
The news release quoted his mother Chelsie Evans, saying “We want to thank the entire community for the outpouring of love during this time. My heart tells me that Tre’ wants to say thank you for loving his family, his fire ‘ohana, his friends during this time. He’d want people to keep giving blood, to keep doing your part as a hero, in the way he lived every day on Earth.”
According to the statement, Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura and other firefighters are spending the day with the family while Maui Mayor Richard Bissen, Jr., who is on Molokai today, offered his condolences to Evans-Dumaran’s family.
Evans-Dumaran and his team were responding to calls about flooded residences amid heavy rain on Maui on the afternoon of Jan. 27 when he was caught in a 4-foot-wide storm drain that empties into the ocean. According to the page on Gofundme.com set up by the family he was swept out into the sea and recovered in the ocean by his crew, who promptly began resuscitation along with paramedics and transported to Maui Memorial Medical Center.
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