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02:11

Hundreds of buildings in historic town of Lahaina destroyed

in Hawaii wildfires – video

Hawaii
Desperate search for survivors
in Maui after 36 people die in
Hawaii fires
Officials warned death toll could rise after
wildfires left dozens of people injured and
homes and businesses destroyed
Hawaii fires ; latest updates

Oliver Holmes, Edward Helmore , Sam Levin and

agencies
Thu 10 Aug 2023 20.38 BST

At least 36 people have died in ferocious

wildfires that have ravaged the historic town of
Lahaina in Hawaii, as crews continued mass
evacuation efforts and desperate searches for
survivors.

Officials warned on Thursday that the death toll

in the blazes on the island of Maui could rise.
Search teams spread out to charred areas on the
island at first light.

At least 30 people have been injured by the

disaster, authorities said.

“We barely made it out,” Lahaina resident

Kamuela Kawaakoa, 34, told the Associated
Press at an evacuation shelter on Wednesday.

The US president, Joe Biden, on Thursday

approved a disaster declaration for Maui, which
will allow federal aid be used to help local
recovery efforts for areas affected by the
wildfires. He pledged that the federal response
will ensure “anyone who’s lost a loved one, or
who’s home has been damaged or destroyed, is
going to get help immediately”.

The search of the wildfire wreckage on Maui revealed a

wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities.
Photograph: Rick Bowmer/AP

Fire engulfed the town of 13,000 residents on

Tuesday night when strong winds propelled a
blaze that had started in vegetation to the urban
center. With flames and smoke rapidly
spreading, some adults and children were driven
to dive into the ocean for safety.

By Wednesday, it had become clear that

significant parts of Lahaina, once the capital of
the Hawaiian royal kingdom, had been
destroyed. The fire, the deadliest in the US in
five years, appears to have consumed most of
the town’s historic waterfront, including 271
structures and homes, leaving a wasteland in its
wake. It charred what is described as the largest
banyan in the US. Aerial video showed
businesses destroyed on Front Street, a popular
tourist destination.

“It was like a war zone,” Alan Barrios, a Lahaina

resident, told Honolulu Civil Beat. “There was
explosions left and right.”

South-east of Lahaina, flames continued to chew

through trees and buildings in coastal Kihei on
Wednesday night, leaving wide swaths of
ground glowing red with embers. Gusty winds
blew sparks over a black and orange patchwork
of charred earth and still-crackling hot spots.

On Thursday, three fires remained active on the

island, in Lahaina, Pulehu and Upcountry. The
Maui fire department reported “no significant
changes” on the three fires, and said no
containment estimates were available. County
officials said firefighters have been facing
“multiple flare-ups” and additional firefighters
were requested from Honolulu.

Search and rescue efforts are a priority, said

Adam Weintraub, a spokesperson for Hawaii
emergency management agency. But teams will
not be able to access certain areas until the fire
lines are secure and they can get to those areas
safely, he added.

“We are still in life preservation mode. Search

and rescue is still a primary concern,” Weintraub
said.

Officials were working to evacuate residents and

tourists stranded in Kaanapali, just north of
Lahaina.

Officials were preparing a convention center in

Honolulu to accommodate up to 4,000 people
displaced by the wildfires. Kahului airport in
Maui was also sheltering 2,000 travelers who
recently arrived on the island or whose flights
were canceled.

Before After

Assessing the full extent of the damage could

take weeks or months, officials said. But the
devastation is already being compared to the
2018 Camp fire in California that killed at least 85
people, destroyed nearly 19,000 homes,
businesses and other buildings, and virtually
razed the town of Paradise.

“These fires are absolutely devastating, and we

will not know the full extent of the damage for a
while. In the meantime, the highest priority is
the safety of the people,” said Brian Schatz, the
US senator for Hawaii, in a statement.

Biden said he had “ordered all available federal

assets on the islands to help with response”. He
expressed his condolences and said that he and
his wife Jill’s “prayers are with those who have
seen their homes, businesses, and communities
destroyed”.

The acting Hawaii governor, Sylvia Luke, issued

an emergency proclamation on behalf of
Governor Josh Green, who was traveling, and
urged tourists to stay away. “This is not a safe
place to be,” she said.

Wildfires on Maui

Pacific Ocean

Kaanapali
Haiku
Kahului
Lahaina
Makawao
Pukalani

Fires detected
in the last Kihei
48 hours
Red Hill,
Wailea-Makena Haleakala

Maui

Kaho‘olawe

10 km
Hawaii
10 miles

Guardian graphic. Source: Hawaii Statewide GIS Program, Fire

Information for Resource Management System. Note: data to 10 August

Lahaina residents Kawaakoa and Iiulia Yasso told

the AP about a harrowing escape under smoke-
filled skies. The couple and their six-year-old son
got back to their apartment after a quick dash to
the supermarket for water, and only had time to
grab a change of clothes and run as the bushes
around them caught fire.

As the family fled, a senior center across the road

erupted in flames. They called 911, but didn’t
know if the people got out. As they drove away,
downed utility poles and others fleeing in cars
slowed their progress.

Kawaakoa grew up in the apartment building,

called Lahaina Surf, where his dad and
grandmother also lived.

“It was so hard to sit there and just watch my

town burn to ashes and not be able to do
anything,” Kawaakoa said. “I was helpless.”

Baldwin Home, built in 1834-35 and the oldest

house on Maui, was among the structures that
burned down, a museum official said.

James Tokioka, the director of the department of

business, economic development and tourism,
said: “Local people have lost everything …
They’ve lost their house, they’ve lost their
animals.”

Hurricane Dora complicated matters for

firefighters in an already dry season. Hawaii,
which is currently facing drought conditions, is
sandwiched between high pressure to the north
and a low pressure system associated with Dora,
said Jeff Powell, a meteorologist in Honolulu,
adding that dryness and gusts “make a
dangerous fire situation so that fires that do exist
can spread out of control very rapidly”.

The US National Weather Service (NWS) said

Dora was partly to blame for wind gusts above
60mph (96km/h) on Tuesday night, when the
fire spread. The winds knocked out power and
forced firefighting helicopters to stay grounded.

The Maui county mayor, Richard Bissen Jr, said

the island had “been tested like never before in
our lifetime”.

“We are grieving with each other during this

inconsolable time,” he said in a recorded
statement. “In the days ahead, we will be
stronger as a kaiaulu, or community, as we
rebuild with resilience and aloha.”

The former US president Barack Obama, who

was born in Hawaii, said in a statement: “It’s
tough to see some of the images coming out of
Hawaii – a place that’s so special to so many of
us. Michelle and I are thinking of everyone who
has lost a loved one, or whose life has been
turned upside down.”

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Topics
Hawaii
Wildfires / Extreme weather / Hawaii fires / news

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More on this story

‘It looks like a war zone’: Hawaii wildfires: how

Lahaina residents tell of the deadly Maui fire s
wildfire ‘nightmare’ and what caused it?

10h ago 12h ago

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