Eddy Brown II lost his temporary home, most of his belongings and his job prospects to the raging Lahaina wildfire. He also nearly lost his dream of becoming an adaptive scuba diving instructor — but it was saved by Oahu’s visitor industry and Island Divers Hawaii.

Brown, originally from North Carolina, moved to Hawaii to work for Norwegian Cruise Lines from January to July. After completing his cruise employment contract, Brown moved to Maui to enroll in a three-week instructor training course at Lahaina Divers, which allowed students to live in its bunkhouse.

He was living his dream until fire broke out Aug. 8, ravaging Lahaina town and causing him to spend nearly 24 hours on foot trying to outrun the spreading flames.

Brown said the day started much like any other, except he was alone at the shop since electricity failures had closed much of Lahaina town. By 10 a.m., he lost cellphone power and all other communications.

“I walked down Front Street midmorning and took a few photos overlooking the bay. It was then that I saw smoke starting in the air. I knew something was up, but I didn’t know what,” he said. “I didn’t find out until much later that fires had started in the wee hours of the morning in the northwest mountains above Lahaina town.”

He said he went back to the dive shop and noted about 3 p.m. that a T-shirt shop was burning about three-quarters of a block away. Next, he said he saw flames on the roof of the historic Baldwin House, about three-quarters of a block the other way.

He said he knew it was time to leave when a power line broke, causing the house next door to catch fire. He said he picked up the pace when he heard dive cylinders overpressurizing, which can sound like the loud boom of a 12-gauge shotgun.

He reverted back to lessons gleaned from his firefighter father, and from serving as a Boy Scout, firefighter, first responder, truck driver and from working on a cruise ship, where he was trained to deal with emergencies at sea.

He went to the harbor and walked along the coast, but eventually got stuck at the old elementary school. He had to make his way back to Front Street, where he flagged down a police officer, who instructed him to keep moving.

He ended up along Hawaii Route 3000, where he paused until he saw fire breaking the knoll to the south side about 8 p.m. Realizing that he had to retreat, he approached several police officers barricading the roadway who gave him a few bottles of water and some snacks, and directed him to continue south down a two-lane road.

Brown walked until 11 p.m and decided to sleep on the side of the road near some parked cars.

Police woke him up at 6 a.m. Aug. 9, and he walked to the closed Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop. He waited there until 6:45 p.m before he was offered a ride to a shelter at a Maui high school gym. He spent much of the day Aug. 10 calling job prospects, but with nothing panning out, decided to fly to the Hawai‘i Convention Center, which the Hawaii Tourism Authority had stood up as a shelter on Oahu.

He was at a real low on Aug. 11 when a representative from the American Red Cross introduced him to Jessica Lani Rich, the president and CEO of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, which helps visitors in crisis.

Rich said she called Jun Krook, Island Divers Hawaii general manager, and was blown away by her generosity.

“I asked her if she thought she could find him work and a home. I told her that Eddy wasn’t dressed for an interview because he had arrived with only the clothes on his back,” she said.

Krook said she quickly called Island Divers’ owner Matt Zimmerman, who said, “Sure go get him,” and offered to house Brown in his home.

Krook took Brown back to the dive shop, where employees embraced him as a new family member, and relished the chance to help someone from the industry, which has been hard-hit by the fire.

“We feel like it’s one down, more to go,” she said. “It’s a tight-knit community; we’ve all been disheartened and we want to help.”

Brown said he is grateful for his new job and a place to live. He is also thankful for the chance to dive again.

“I find my calm under the water; it’s crazy up here,” he said.

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