Death toll from Hawaii fires set to rise ‘very significantly’
Satellite images have captured the horrifying devastation in Hawaii as the official death toll from wildfires rose to 53. See before and after photos.
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The number of people known to have been killed in a fast-moving fire that tore through a Hawaiian town has risen to 53, local officials said.
Fires on Maui’s west coast — fuelled by high winds from a hurricane passing to the south — broke out on Tuesday and rapidly engulfed the seaside town of Lahaina.
“As firefighting efforts continue, 17 additional fatalities have been confirmed today amid the active Lahaina fire,” Maui County announced, raising the death toll from 36.
The quick-moving flames forced many to flee into the ocean to escape, witnesses said.
“I saw a couple people just running, I heard screams out of hell … explosions. It felt like we were in hell, it really was,” one of the men, who asked not to be named, told KHON2.
“It was just indescribable.”
* Satellite images courtesy of Maxar Technologies / AFP
Another survivor added: “You couldn’t really see anything, sometimes it was just blacked out by the smoke, but you could still see the flames.”
The men said the winds from the heat were blowing the flames closer to residents taking shelter, burning their skin, the New York Post reports.
They were left with no choice but to seek relief in the ocean.
The US Coast Guard eventually arrived to save the men and dozens of others.
Commander Aja Kirksey, US Coast Guard, told CNN helicopters dispatched to the area faced extremely low visibility due to the smoke, but that a Coast Guard vessel had been able to retrieve more than 50 people from the water.
“It was a really rapidly developing scene and pretty harrowing for the victims that had to jump into the water,” she added.
Officials said 36 people had been confirmed dead, with the toll expected to rise as searches continue.
“That number is going to go up very significantly,” the state’s governor Josh Green told CNN.
“In 1960 we had 61 fatalities when a large wave came through Big Island. This time, it’s very likely that our death totals will significantly exceed that.”
A spokeperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the “Australian Consulate-General in Honolulu is in contact with a small number of Australians and with local authorities” in Maui.
Travellers who are impacted are advised to contact their airline or travel provider for updates, monitor local media and follow the advice of local authorities.
Australians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the Australian Government’s 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre 1300 555 135 (within Australia) and +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas).
In a video post Mayor Richard Bissen said: “With lives lost and properties decimated, we are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time,”
“In the days ahead, we will be stronger as a (community) …” he added, “as we rebuild with resilience and aloha.”
For resident Kekoa Lansford, the official rescue response was lacking.
“We have been pulling people out … We’re trying to save people’s lives, and I feel like we are not getting the help we need,” Lansford told CBS.
“We still get dead bodies in the water floating and on the seawall.”
Aerial photographs of Lahaina, which served as the Hawaiian kingdom’s capital in the early 19th century, showed entire blocks reduced to cinders.
Officials said more than 270 structures were damaged or destroyed, including entire blocks of homes, businesses and a 200-year-old church in Lahaina Town in Maui.
On the Big Island, three wildfires were burning, though two of them were at least 60 per cent contained. Local evacuation orders were lifted late Wednesday.
FIRES DECLARED A ‘MAJOR DISASTER’; DEAD BODIES IN THE WATER
US President Joe Biden declared the fires a “major disaster” and unblocked federal aid for relief efforts, as residents said they needed more help and feared it would take years for the town to recover.
“Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. declared that a major disaster exists in the State of Hawaii and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires,” a White House statement said on Friday.
Mr Biden’s office said he had spoken by phone with Hawaii Governor Josh Green.
The president “expressed his deep condolences for the lives lost and vast destruction of land and property,” the White House said.
VISITORS TOLD ‘LEAVE ASAP’
Thousands of people have been evacuated from Maui, with plans for more flights out of the main airport in Kahului on Thursday local time.
Maui county has requested that visitors leave “as soon as possible,” and has organised buses to move evacuees from shelters to the airport.
The state’s tourism chief Jimmy Tokioka acknowledged the tragedy but reiterated that the “rest of Hawaii is open.”
More than 2100 people spent the night in four shelters on the island after mass evacuations. Officials said they did not want any visitors to come to Maui, and that current visitors should leave, as there is not enough shelter.
Much of Lahaina, has been destroyed and hundreds of families displaced, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said. He estimated several thousand people would need housing.
“What we’re trying to do right now is to make sure that anyone who doesn’t need to be in Maui for anything but essential travel does not go to Maui. We’ll welcome visitors back to paradise after the fire’s done and after we can rebuild,” he said, explaining that they will need to use as many hotel rooms, Airbnbs, and other shelters “to house our people,” he told CNN.
MICK FLEETWOOD’S RESTAURANT AMONG DAMAGED BUILDINGS
More than 270 structures have been impacted in Lahaina, Maui County revealed on Wednesday following flyover conducted by a US Civil Air Patrol and Maui Fire Department.
“Widespread damage to the West Maui town, the harbour and surrounding areas are being documented,” the county said, reports CNN.
Among the damaged buildings was restaurant and bar Fleetwood on Front St., which was owned by rock n roll icon Mick Fleetwood.
About 100 Maui firefighters “have been on duty around the clock” and an additional 20 firefighters from Honolulu and an incident management team.
Governor Josh Green told CNN he expects the damage bill to run into the “billions of dollars”.
FLIGHTS IMPACTED
The wildfires have thrown travel plans into chaos with flights to and from Maui impacted.
Hawaii Airlines, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines all are offering travel waivers for travel to Maui allowing passengers to change plans without penalty.
Hawaii Airlines warned travellers to avoid heading to the island for the next 10 days.
Maui flights are operating for essential travel, but some are delayed while others are being cancelled at this point.
Hawaii Airlines has also asked that all non-essential Maui travel be postponed, with authorities yet to determine how long this will be in place.
“Currently, all non-essential travel to Maui is strongly discouraged,” Hawaii Airlines said.
“If you are travelling to/from Maui between August 9 and 20 and would like to change your travel plans, we have a travel waiver in place and encourage you to contact our reservations department.
“If you are travelling to Maui for essential reasons, we encourage you to check our website and mobile app for flight status updates. We expect to continue operating flights to Maui as scheduled but may experience some disruptions.
Thomas Smith, a professor with the London School of Economics, said that while wildfires are not uncommon in Hawaii, the blazes this year “are burning a greater area than usual, and the fire behaviour is extreme, with fast spread rates and large flames.”
The Hawaii fires follow other extreme weather events this summer in North America, with record-breaking wildfires still burning across Canada and a major heatwave baking the US southwest.
As global temperatures rise over time, heatwaves are projected to become more frequent, with increased dryness due to changing rainfall patterns creating ideal conditions for bush or forest fires.
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Originally published as Death toll from Hawaii fires set to rise ‘very significantly’
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