Maui flames kill at least 6 people and damage houses.

 

KAHULUI, Hawaii (AP) — In the dead of night, a wildfire ripped through the heart of the Hawaiian island of Maui, burning most of a historic town to ash and prompting residents to jump into the water to escape the flames. Six people were killed, scores were injured, and 271 buildings were damaged or destroyed.

The fires raged on Wednesday afternoon, fuelled by strong gusts from Hurricane Dora, which passed well south of the Hawaiian islands. Officials were concerned that the death toll might climb.

"This is a deeply sombre day," Maui Mayor Richard Bissen remarked. "The tragedy of losing any life is profound. As we mourn with their families, we send prayers for comfort at this difficult time."

As the winds eased, several aircraft resumed flying, allowing pilots to see the full extent of the carnage. According to Mahina Martin, a Maui County spokesman, flyovers over the seaside hamlet of Lahaina by the US Civil Air Patrol and the Maui Fire Department revealed the magnitude of the destruction.

Aerial footage showed scores of houses and businesses in Lahaina destroyed, including on Front Street, a popular shopping and dining destination for visitors. Smoking rubble mounds were piled high along the shoreline, boats in the harbour were burnt, and grey smoke lingered over the leafless carcasses of charred trees.

 

"It's frightening. "I've been flying here for 52 years and I've never seen anything like it," said Richard Olsten, a tour business helicopter pilot. "We all had tears in our eyes, the other pilots on board, the mechanics, and me."

Acting Gov. Sylvia Luke said the fires "wiped out communities," and she asked people to avoid the area.

"This is not a safe place to be," she declared.

According to an update from the county, Maui officials asked guests to depart Lahaina, and the island was organising a "mass bus evacuation" Wednesday afternoon to take travellers directly to the airport.

According to the county, West Maui is still without mobile or landline phone service, as well as power.

According to Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, adjutant general for the Hawaii State Department of Defence, a variety of conditions, including strong winds, low humidity, and dry foliage, likely led to the conflagration. Climate change, according to experts, is also increasing the chance of more catastrophic weather.

"Climate change in many parts of the world is increasing vegetation dryness, in large part because temperatures are hotter," said Erica Fleishman, head of Oregon State University's Oregon Climate Change Research Institute. "Even if you get the same amount of precipitation, if you have higher temperatures, things dry out faster."

 

The wind-driven blaze surged into the region at breakneck speed, scorching across crossroads and jumping across wooden structures in the Lahaina town centre, which dates from the 1700s and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

"It was apocalyptic from what they explained," Tiare Lawrence said of the 14 cousins and uncles who left town and sought safety at her home in Pukalani, east of Lahaina.

Keeaumoku Kapu, a Lahaina resident, was tying down loose artefacts in the wind at the cultural centre he operates when his wife arrived Tuesday afternoon and informed him they needed to flee. "Right at that time, things got crazy, the wind started picking up," Kapu said, adding that they made it out "in the nick of time."

They spotted flames and billowing smoke two blocks distant. Kapu rushed into his pickup truck with his wife and a buddy. "By the time we turned around, our building was already on fire," he explained. "It was just that quick."

According to Mahina Martin, a spokesman for Maui County, crews were battling three fires on Maui: in Lahaina, south Maui's Kihei district, and the rugged, inland areas known as Upcountry.

At least two houses were burned Tuesday in the Upcountry village of Kula by a fire that covered roughly 1.7 square miles (4.5 square kilometres), according to County of Maui Mayor Richard Bissen Jr.

Mayor Mitch Roth said Wednesday that there have been no reports of casualties or properties lost as a result of three wildfires raging on Hawaii's Big Island. A few roof flames were put out by firefighters.

The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was moving to the south of the island chain at a safe distance of 500 miles (805 km), was partially to blame for gusts of more than 60 mph (97 kph) on Maui, knocking out electricity, rattling houses, and stranding firefighting aircraft.

The Coast Guard rescued 14 individuals, including two children, who had run into the water to escape the fire and hazy conditions on Tuesday, according to a county statement.

Six people were killed in fires on Maui, but search and rescue activities continued, and the number might grow, according to Bissen.

According to Speedy Bailey, regional director for Hawaii Life Flight, an air-ambulance firm, six patients were carried from Maui to the island of Oahu on Tuesday night. Three of them got significant burns and were transferred to the burn unit at Straub Medical Centre, he added. The others were transferred to various hospitals in Honolulu. He claimed at least 20 victims were brought to Maui Memorial Medical Centre.

A fireman on Maui was hospitalised in stable condition early Wednesday, according to authorities.

Luke signed an emergency proclamation on behalf of Gov. Josh Green, who is out of the country, and mobilised the Hawaii National Guard to help.

"We have overcrowded shelters in certain areas of Maui," Luke explained. "We do have resources that are being taxed."

In a statement issued Wednesday evening, President Joe Biden stated that he had directed "all available Federal assets" to assist Hawaii. The Coast Guard and Navy, according to the president, are assisting with response and rescue operations, while the Marines are supplying Black Hawk aircraft to combat the fires.

There was no official tally of the number of individuals who had fled, but officials claimed four shelters were operational, sheltering 2,100 people.

According to the county, Kahului Airport, Maui's primary airport, was housing 2,000 travellers whose flights had been cancelled or who had recently landed on the island. Officials in Honolulu were preparing the Hawaii Convention Centre to house up to 4,000 displaced visitors and residents.

"Local people have lost everything," James Tokioka, Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, stated. "They've lost their house, and their animals."

Former President Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii, said Wednesday evening on social media that it's difficult to watch some of the pictures coming out of a place that means so much to so many people.

"Michelle and I are thinking of everyone who has lost a loved one, or whose life has been turned upside down," he stated.

Kapu, the proprietor of Lahaina's Na Aikane o Maui cultural centre, claimed he and his wife didn't have time to prepare before being forced to escape. "We had years and years and years of research material, artefacts," he explained.

Alan Dickar, who ran the Vintage European Posters gallery on Front Street in Lahaina for 23 years, said he's not sure what's left of it. Dickar shot video of flames consuming the main strip of stores and restaurants popular by visitors before fleeing with three pals and two animals.

"Everything significant I owned burned down today," he explained.

According to Lawrence, Lahaina is frequently considered of as a Maui tourist town, yet "we have a very strong Hawaiian community."

"I'm simply heartbroken." "Our memories are everywhere," she remarked. "Everyone has a house. In the previous 12 hours, everyone's life have tragically altered."