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Photos

A wildfire burns in Lahaina, Hawaii on Aug. 8, 2023, and Capt. Ikaika Blackburn at Napili Fire Station in Lahaina.
Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP; Josiah Patterson for NBC News

Maui wildfires

Lahaina's firefighters fought an impossible battle, again and again. This is what they saw.

As firefighters raced to hold back wind-whipped flames, they faced near-death escapes, blinding smoke, car-melting heat — and a battle they couldn’t win.