Hawaii tourist hotspot lay in ruins after horror wildfires kill at least six
A tourist hotspot has gone up in flames as fatal wildfires wreak havoc forcing people to jump into the ocean with the town looking like a scene out of “a war movie”.
At least six people have been killed in a wildfire that has razed a tourist town in Hawaii and sent people desperately jumping into the ocean to escape the fast-moving flames.
The fires devastated much of Hawaii’s Maui island on Wednesday, local time, and the tourist town of Lahaina, on the northwestern tip, lay in ruins.
“Much of Lahaina on Maui has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced,” said Hawaii Governor Josh Green.
Video posted on social media showed blazes tearing through the heart of the beachfront town and sending up huge plumes of black smoke.
“People are jumping into the water to avoid the fire,” US Army Major General Kenneth Hara, the state adjutant general, told Hawaii News Now.
He said the strong winds had prevented helicopters from being used to carry out rescues or fight the fires.
US Coast Guard officers plucked at least a dozen people from the water as emergency services were overwhelmed by a disaster that appeared to have erupted almost without warning.
Maui county mayor Richard Bissen confirmed at a press conference six people had died.
“We are still in a search and rescue mode and so I don’t know what will happen to that number,” he said.
Lieutenant governor Sylvia Luke issued an emergency proclamation and told CNN the hospital system on the island of Maui “was overburdened with burn patients, people suffering from inhalation”.
“911 is down. Cell service is down. Phone service is down,” she said.
Warning: Stay away
Ed Sniffen, director of the Hawaii State Department of Transportation, told reporters about 2000 people stayed overnight at the airport in Maui while another 4000 tourists wanted to leave the island from the west side, according to CNN.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority is asking visitors who are on “non-essential travel” to leave Maui.
HTA encourages tourists who have travel plans to West Maui in the coming weeks to consider rescheduling for a later time.
Tourists planning to stay in other areas of Maui are told to contact their hotels for information.
“In the days and weeks ahead, our collective resources and attention must be focused on the recovery of residents and communities that were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses,” a statement said.
‘It’s all gone’
A local resident shared videos to his Instagram story in the last 24 hours showing blue skies and strong winds before things took a horrible turn and sky was lit up red.
“And there goes the house that I lived in for a month,” he said, filming huge flames and smoke billowing into the air.
The man’s videos of the aftermath, showing flattened buildings and burnt out cars, have been shared across social media.
“It’s all gone, man,” he can be heard saying behind the camera.
Some buildings still burned as he walked through the streets while others were reduced to rubble.
Videos of Lahaina’s iconic Front Street blackened and destroyed have shocked people across the country.
‘Something out of a movie’
Lahaina resident Claire Kent said she had seen her neighbourhood burned less than an hour after she fled.
“The flames had moved all the way down to the end of the neighbourhood,” she told CNN.
“We were pulling out … onto the highway, you look back and there’s cars with flames on both sides of the road, people stuck in traffic trying to get out.”
Ms Kent described the dangerous scene as “something out of a horror movie”.
“I know for a fact people didn’t get out,” she said, adding that homeless people and people without access to vehicles seemed to have been trapped in the town.
Ms Kent described how power and cell phone coverage had been knocked out Tuesday, local time, and she had been unaware of any approaching danger until a sudden shift of wind sparked panic.
“It was all just word of mouth, like people running down the street saying ‘you need to get out.’
“There were guys riding around on bicycles, just screaming at people to leave.”
Utter devastation left by the wildfires in Maui, Hawaï. It is far from hyperbole to say that Lahaina has been wiped off the map.
— Nahel Belgherze (@WxNB_) August 9, 2023
Credit: Vince Carter pic.twitter.com/dlwxTNY51R
For those who managed to flee, there was worry over missing family.
“I still don’t know where my little brother is,” Tiare Lawrence told Hawaii News Now. “I don’t know where my stepdad is.
“Everyone I know in Lahaina, their homes have burned down.”
Chrissy Lovitt told the outlet every boat in Lahaina Harbor had burned.
“It looks like something out of a movie, a war movie,” Ms Lovitt said. “The water was on fire from the fuel in the water.”
New video from Front Street shows virtually all of downtown Lahaina has been burned down. pic.twitter.com/i4ViDhz8K7
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) August 9, 2023
Surf school manager Elizabeth Smith said she was safe in upcountry Kula, but was concerned for staff and their families in Lahaina.
“We do know that one couple was able to evacuate, but we don’t know about the others,” she told AFP by telephone.
“There’s still very limited communication with people from Lahaina.”
Winds up to 130km per hour
Lieutenant governor Sylvia Luke said the fires were caused by dry conditions and the powerful winds from Hurricane Dora, which is hundreds of kilometres south of the islands and is not expected to make landfall.
She said the fires have burned hundreds of acres and were being fanned by winds up to 80 miles (130km) per hour.
Ten public schools were closed Wednesday on Maui, and state officials and the American Red Cross opened emergency shelters for residents.
More than 14,000 people were without power on Maui, according to tracking website poweroutage.us.
Elizabeth Smith, the surf school manager, said a very dry summer appeared to be making the fire particularly widespread.
“I don’t mean to be dramatic, but I don’t think anything like that has ever happened to Maui,” she said.
“It is unusual to have that many areas affected by fires, they’re all over the island.”
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