At least 36 killed on Maui as fires burn through Hawaii and thousands race to escape

WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — The search of the wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze that has already claimed 36 lives, making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years.

Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the fire started Tuesday and took the island by surprise, racing through parched growth and neighborhoods in the historic town of Lahaina, a tourist destination that dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side.

Maui County said late Wednesday that at least 36 people have died. But that figure could rise as rescuers reach parts of the island that had been unreachable due to ongoing fires or obstructions including blocked roads. Officials said earlier that 271 structures had been damaged or destroyed and dozens of people had been injured. It is the deadliest fire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and virtually razed the town of Paradise.

Lahaina residents Kamuela Kawaakoa and Iiulia Yasso described their harrowing escape under smoke-filled skies Tuesday afternoon. The couple and their 6-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.

“We barely made it out,” Kawaakoa said at an evacuation shelter on Wednesday, still unsure if anything was left of their apartment.

As the fires rage, tourists were advised to stay away, and about 11,000 visitors flew out of Maui on Wednesday, with at least another 1,500 expected to leave Thursday, according to Ed Sniffen, state transportation director. Officials prepared the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu to take in the thousands who have been displaced.

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.”

Wildfires aren’t unusual in Hawaii, but the weather of the past few weeks created the fuel for a devastating blaze and, once ignited, the high winds created the disaster, said Thomas Smith an associate professor in Environmental Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

“The vegetation in the lowland areas of Maui is particularly parched this year, with below-average precipitation in the spring, and hardly any rainfall this summer.

The Big Island is also currently seeing blazes, Mayor Mitch Roth said, although there had been no reports of injuries or destroyed homes there.

As winds eased somewhat on Maui on Wednesday, pilots were able to view the full scope of the devastation. Aerial video from Lahaina showed dozens of homes and businesses razed, including on Front Street, where tourists once gathered to shop and dine. Smoking heaps of rubble lay piled high next to the waterfront, boats in the harbor were scorched, and gray smoke hovered over the leafless skeletons of charred trees.

Tiare Lawrence was frantically trying to reach her siblings who live near where a gas station exploded in Lahaina.

“There’s no service, so we can’t get ahold of anyone,” she said from the Maui community of Pukalani.

The Coast Guard said it rescued 14 people who jumped into the water to escape flames and smoke, including two children.

Among those injured were three people with critical burns who were flown to Oahu, officials said.

Bissen, the Maui County mayor, said at a Wednesday morning news conference that officials hadn’t yet begun investigating the immediate cause of the fires, but officials did point to the combination of dry conditions, low humidity and high winds.

Mauro Farinelli, of Lahaina, said the winds started blowing hard on Tuesday, and then somehow a fire started up on a hillside.

“It just ripped through everything with amazing speed,” he said, adding it was “like a blowtorch.”

The winds were so strong they blew his garage door off its hinges and trapped his car in the garage, Farinelli said. So a friend drove him, along with his wife, Judit, and dog, Susi, to an evacuation shelter. He had no idea what had happened to their home.

“We’re hoping for the best,” he said, “but we’re pretty sure it’s gone.”

President Joe Biden ordered all available federal assets to help with the response. He said the Hawaii National Guard had mobilized helicopters to help with fire suppression as well as search-and-rescue efforts.

“Our prayers are with those who have seen their homes, businesses and communities destroyed,” Biden said in a statement.

Gov. Josh Green cut short a trip and planned to return Wednesday evening. In his absence, acting Gov. Sylvia Luke issued an emergency proclamation and urged tourists to stay away.

Alan Dickar, who owns a poster gallery and three houses in Lahaina, bemoaned the loss of so much in the town and to him personally.

“The central two blocks is the economic heart of this island, and I don’t know what’s left,” he said. “Every significant thing I owned burned down today.”