Terrified Dog Who Ran Into Maui Wildfire Survives And Is Reunited With Family

Over 90 people and countless animals have died in the Maui fires, with hundreds more still missing. Search-and-rescue teams are searching for survivors in what is now the deadliest U.S. wildfire in over 100 years.

The County of Maui stated that as of the evening of August 13, the Lahaina fire (one of three that are still active) was 85% contained. People are now desperately searching for missing family members and beloved pets.

Maui Humane Society is taking in lost and injured pets and giving them the care they need with hopes of reuniting them with their families.

They shared a heartwarming story about a dog named Roman who was rescued, treated, and reunited with his family.

Roman was with a dog sitter in Lahaina when the fires ignited on Tuesday and started to rapidly spread. According to the shelter, “The dog sitter had no choice but to jump into the waters of Lahaina to save them but he did not jump in with her. Roman ran off terrified down front street.”

He managed to survive and was found the following day.

“On Thursday, Roman was found by Goodfellow Bros staff. Roman was then handed off to a good samaritan and taken to Ma’alaea harbor, and from there he went with one of our humane enforcement officers to be taken to Maui Humane Society for medical care. He was burned on his paws, legs, back and body,” wrote the shelter.

He was treated and then checked for a microchip, which he had!

“Roman was microchipped, we called his owners and they immediately came to the shelter to take their baby boy home. Roman is now safe and with his ohana (family) and doing well according to his owners.”

This happy ending gives hope to all of the people still searching for their missing dog or cat. Roman’s former foster family commented, “We were the family that fostered Roman before this fine family adopted him (we knew him as Blue). We are so happy to see that he survived, and while hurt and in pain has plenty of people around him that love him and will take the bestest care of him. All our love from Big Island.”

Maui Humane Society plans on entering Lahaina to help search for lost pets when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, they are asking people to file a lost report on their website.

They concluded the post with, “Roman is just the first of many stories we hope to share about pets being reunited with their owners during this tragedy. We are so grateful to our community coming together to help our beloved pets, like Roman.”

Join us in helping people and pets displaced and injured by the Maui fires by donating below.

Every little bit helps.