INDIANAPOLIS — Dozens of central Indiana first responders are preparing to leave for Maui to help with search and rescue efforts after deadly wildfires devastated the island.
At least 106 people are confirmed dead and hundreds more are still missing.
That's part of the challenge Indiana Task Force 1 will have, once they arrive in Hawaii.
But with a team of 70 first responders, plus all their gear and equipment, there's also a logistical challenge right off the bat: getting everyone and everything on airplanes to Maui.
At IN-TF1 headquarters near the airport Wednesday, firefighters were working the phones.
They're desperately trying to secure flights as soon as possible, so their team of Hoosiers can help in Hawaii.
It hasn't been easy.
"So we got activated at 9 p.m. last night. FEMA likes us to be, if we're going by air, in the air in six hours," said IFD Battalion Chief Jay Settergren, IN-TF1 leader for this deployment. "The size of the group going and trying to get one aircraft to be able to take the team and one aircraft to be able to take the equipment, it proves to be challenging. Our logistics guys came straight in here and spent the entire night reconfigurating [sic] our cache of equipment to be able to go by air."
They spent the day packing not only personal items, but also two trucks full of tents, medical and technical equipment to protect their crews and search the burn zone.
"These are tools we need to be able to secure buildings, shore it for safety to be able to be in it and search it, to dig through buildings — hand tools, saws, those kinds of things," Settergren said.
Thursday morning, IN-TF1 announced it was scheduled to depart Indianapolis that night.
However, Indianapolis Fire Department spokesperson Rita Reith confirmed IN-TF1 will leave from the Indianapolis International Airport Friday, Aug. 18 at 6 a.m. on a private charter aircraft. The flight is expected to take nine hours.
Over the years, IN-TF1 has been deployed to dozens of disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and fires.
But in Lahaina, with endless devastation and the death toll rising, it's an especially tough task both physically and emotionally.
"This could be equated to the 9/11 response, to our response to Surfside a couple years ago, because we know we have people unaccounted for," Settergren said. "It's a different tempo. So instead of a rapid pace, we're a little more slow and methodical. There are some difficult structures to get through. You know, we have four- and five-story structures, apartment buildings. So we'll have to work through each one of those."
Their goal is to bring closure to families who lost loved ones.
Most of these firefighters have never been to Hawaii.
This isn't how they envisioned a trip there.
But the mission and their purpose is as important as it gets.
"We're going to go do the best work we can do," Settergren said.
IN-TF1 is one of three "type 1" teams just activated to help in Hawaii. They'll join FEMA crews and K-9 teams already on the ground, in the eight-square mile area directly affected by the deadly wildfires.
Once the team secures flights to Maui, the deployment is expected to last 10 to 14 days.