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Canines leading charge for finding victims of Maui wildfire nightmare
As Maui grapples with the devastation of the wildfires, man’s best friend is leading the charge to recover the hundreds of victims that were killed as the flames swept across the island.
Human remains dogs, or HR dogs, were flown to Hawaii from across the US to hunt down the completely unrecognizable bodies hidden beneath the rubble of what was once their homes, Stephen Bjune from FEMA Urban Search and Rescue told The Post.
“The canines, like any other athlete, they want to get out there and go to work. They’re very driven by what they do,” the spokesperson said.
With booties on their feet, the German Shorthairs, German Shepherds, Labs, Retrievers and Malwas were seen bounding through the wreckage alongside teams as they made their way across the island.
Most of the recovered bodies that have been found thus far are “partial remains,” not whole charred corpses — making them impossible to spot by just the naked human eye.
“The dogs are pretty phenomenal in their ability to pick up on the scent of something minute and certainly something we would never be able to pick up on — it’s pretty incredible,” Bjune said.
“Sometimes they can get it from some distance and sometimes they have to be pretty close … We’re dealing with a fire that was so hot so there’s a lot less scent than the dogs might be used to, so they’re having to do a lot more technical search.”
So far, the canines recovered 114 confirmed victims within the 85% already-searched burn area as of Saturday.
When one of the canines alerts to potential remains, members of the search team mark the spot either physically or with mapping programs before reporting the find to the Maui Police Department.
Officials “appropriately and respectfully” collect the remains and transport them to be identified.
The National Guard and anthropologists are also involved in the recovery process to help with identification — a tough task considering many of the bodies have been reduced to ash.
Because the 1,000-degree inferno left little standing other than tin roofs and scattered cinder blocks, the dogs are diligently led through the leveled neighborhoods at a much slower pace than they’re used to.
The efforts have also been slowed down by the intense heat that still lingers a week after the wildfires ripped through the island.
The HR dogs take turns running through a site while their counterparts take a much-needed fuel and hydration break inside an air-conditioned vehicle.
The pups are also outfitted with booties or their handlers wrap their feet in gauze to protect their paw pads from the blistering heat that has been exacerbated by the leftover ash, which acts as an insulator.
The canines and their handlers will run through an area repeatedly until the dogs stop alerting, leading officials to declare the efforts “dog-driven.”
In exchange for their crucial work, the HR canines are rewarded with a toy each time they successfully find remains.
