Climate change is coming for everyone.
Maui’s death toll now 106. This is one of their stories.
Whenever she went anywhere with Franklin Trejos, Lahaina resident Shannon Weber-Bogar knew what to expect: an outing filled with seemingly endless stops so Trejos could check in on all of his friends.
“I would get so irritated with him because we’d go to the store and he’d have to stop and say hi to everyone and ask how they’re doing, and their families,” Weber-Bogar said in a phone interview Tuesday. “Just the friendliest guy you would ever meet.”
Trejos, 68, is one of at least 99 victims confirmed dead from wildfires that devastated the Maui town of Lahaina last week, with the death toll still expected to rise, according to Hawaii officials.
A longtime friend of Weber-Bogar and her husband, Geoff Bogar, Trejos lived with the couple in their Lahaina home. As the flames drew closer to the neighborhood, Trejos and Bogar took it upon themselves to evacuate as many people as they could, Weber-Bogar said, then stayed behind to try to save the house.
When the blaze started racing straight toward them, the two men ran to their cars to escape, said Weber-Bogar, who has been out of town caring for her mom. On the way to his car, Trejos grabbed Sam, the couple’s 3-year-old golden retriever whom he adored and considered to be his own, she said.
Bogar’s car wouldn’t start, so he broke out of a window and crawled to safety, suffering numerous burns. The following day, Bogar went back to look for Trejos.
Inside Trejos’ car, Bogar found his friend’s body draped over Sam’s. Both had died in the fire.
“He must have seen what was happening, just crawled into the hatchback with him and laid down on top of him,” Weber-Bogar said. “There’s more of Sam left than there was of Frank.”
Weber-Bogar’s home was destroyed completely. She has no idea where she and her husband will live now, but she said it won’t feel the same without Trejos, who worked with her husband more than 30 years ago and came to their house “like a stray puppy and stayed with us ever since.”
“It’s weird to wake up without him,” she said, adding that her two children grew up referring to Trejos as Uncle Frank. “There’s no way to say what a great guy he is.”
Sad but wonderful story.
Thank you.
“…then stayed behind to try to save the house.”
Firefighting and rescue officials should have special public service announcements describing needless deaths that were caused trying to save property or sentimental things.
[My cousin was staying at our grandmother’s house when he woke up to a smoke alarm triggered by an electrical fire. He had to physically pull her away from trying retrieve photographs from a flaming room. They were both fine, but she wouldn’t be if he hadn’t stopped her.]