A wildfire that swept through the picturesque resort town of Lahaina on Hawaii's Maui island has killed at least 36 people, authorities said, while leaving smoldering ruins in its wake and forcing thousands to flee.
Video footage showed neighborhoods and businesses razed and vehicles burned to a crisp across the western side of the U.S. island as the wildfires cut off most roads out of Lahaina, the historic former capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The town is one of Maui's prime attractions, drawing 2 million tourists to the island each year, or about 80 percent of its visitors.
The cause in Maui had yet to be determined, but the National Weather Service said the fires were fueled by a mix of dry vegetation, strong winds, and low humidity.
Maui resident Dustin Kaleiopu on Thursday said his family, now relocated to the other side of the island, had only had minutes to evacuate and lost two generational family homes to the flames.
"There are still so many people that we are unable get in touch with, and that still remains true for many families here," Kaleiopu said in an interview on NBC News' "Today" program. "Everyone I know is now homeless."
Such scenes of devastation have become all too familiar elsewhere in the world. Wildfires, often caused by record-setting heat this summer, forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe. In western Canada, a series of unusually severe fires sent clouds of smoke over vast swaths of the U.S., polluting the air.
Human-caused climate change, driven by fossil fuel use, is increasing the frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events, scientists say, having long warned that countries must slash emissions to prevent climate catastrophe.
Wildfires occur every year in Hawaii, according to Thomas Smith, an environmental geography professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, but this year's fires are burning faster and bigger than usual because of the low rainfall, higher temperatures, and nearby storm systems.
THREE SEPARATE BLAZES
On Maui, firefighters were battling three separate blazes on the island, officials said late on Wednesday night, without providing further details.
Officials said on Wednesday that the fires also destroyed parts of Kula, a residential area in the inland, mountainous Upcountry region. Fires were also affecting Kihei in South Maui.
Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics Hawaii's Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke told a press conference late on Wednesday that officials were still assessing the damage.
An aerial view shows damage along the coast of Lahaina in the aftermath of wildfires in Maui, Hawaii, U.S. August 9, 2023 this screen grab obtained from social media video. Richard Olsten/Air... Read more
"It will be a long road to recovery," she said.
The blazes began on Tuesday night as powerful winds from Hurricane Dora, hundreds of miles to the southwest, fanned the flames. By Thursday, the strong winds had largely abated.
Beyond the human casualties, the fire burned cultural treasures such as Lahaina's historic 60-foot-tall banyan tree, which marked the spot where Hawaiian King Kamehameha III's 19th-century palace stood, according to local reports.
Some 271 structures were damaged or destroyed, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported, citing official reports from flyovers conducted by the U.S. Civil Air Patrol and the Maui Fire Department.
As of early Thursday, the tracking site Poweroutage.us reported about 11,000 homes and businesses were without power on Maui, which has a year-round population of 165,000.
The wildfires spread quickly through populated areas of Lahaina, a city of about 13,000 people. Some people jumped into the Pacific Ocean to escape the smoke and fire conditions, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to rescue them, according to a Maui County press release.
Julius Limbaga, 38, woke up from a nap on Tuesday when he smelled smoke in his Lahaina apartment, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. "The fire was so fast and in just a blink of an eye it was everywhere," Limbaga said.
He told the newspaper that he doused himself with water and ran to the Lahaina harbor, his rubber slippers melting as he ran. The Coast Guard rescued him from the harbor waters and took him to be treated for burns on his feet and legs.
Dr. John Vaz, the doctor in charge of Maui's Malama I Ke Ola Health Center, told the Star-Advertiser that most incoming patients didn't say anything at first, "just stood around with blank faces."
"But once they start eating and start to animate a bit more, the trauma is starting to come out," he said
More than 11,000 travelers were evacuated from Maui, Ed Sniffen of the Hawaii Department of Transportation said late on Wednesday. Though at least 16 roads were closed, the airport was operating fully and airlines were dropping fares and offering waivers to get people off the island, Sniffen had said earlier in the day.
Southwest Airlines said on Thursday that it was increasing flights to Hawaii due to the evacuation efforts.
A mass bus evacuation to the Kahului Airport for visitors in West Maui was to resume at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, officials said.
The National Guard, U.S. Navy, Marines and Coast Guard were mobilized, while the U.S. Department of Transportation aided evacuation efforts, President Joe Biden said.
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