On Thursday, a search for the devastation caused by wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui revealed a wilderness of erased neighborhoods and charred monuments beyond recognition, as the death toll rose to at least 53 and survivors told harrowing stories of escaping by hair with clothes on their backs. . .
A review of historic Lahaina showed entire neighborhoods that had been a colorful vision of color and island life reduced to gray ashes. Block after block, there is only rubble and blackened foundations, which add up along the famous Front Street, where tourists bought groceries and dined alone. a few days ago. Ships in the harbor were burned and smoke hung over the town, which dates back to the 1700s and is the largest network on the west side of the island.
“Lahaina, with a few exceptions, caught fire,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green told The Associated Press. More than 1,000 structures were destroyed by the fires that were still burning, he said.
The death toll will likely rise as search and rescue operations continue, Green added, and officials expect it to be the state’s deadliest herbal crisis since a 1961 tsunami killed another 61 people on the Big Island.
“We are heartbroken,” Green said.
Tiffany Kidder Winn’s Whaler’s Locker gift shop, which is one of the oldest department stores in the city, is among the many businesses destroyed. While assessing the damage Thursday, he arrived through a line of burned-out vehicles, some with charred bodies inside.
“It looked like they were trying to get out, but they were stuck in traffic and couldn’t get out of Front Street,” he said. Later, he saw a leaning frame facing a seawall.
Winn said the destruction was so widespread that he “couldn’t even tell where he was because all the landmarks were gone. “The lobby of the historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and the nearby Lahaina Hongwanji project are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday. August 8, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. (Matthew Thayer/The Maui News via AP)
Fueled by a dry summer and the strong winds of a passing hurricane, the fire erupted Tuesday and took Maui by surprise, blanketing the island with dry sprawl and then feasting on homes and everything else in its path.
The official death toll of 53 on Thursday makes it the deadliest wildfire in the United States since the 2018 California Camp Fire, which killed at least 85 other people and devastated the town of Paradise. thrived in parts of the island that were inaccessible due to the three ongoing fires, adding the Lahaina Fire that 80 percent contained Thursday, according to a Maui County news release. More than 270 structures were broken or destroyed and dozens of others were injured. some seriously.
“We are still in life preservation mode. Search and rescue is a primary concern,” said Adam Weintraub, spokesman for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
Search and rescue teams will still not be able to access limited spaces until the fire lines are secured and they are confident they can reach those spaces safely, Weintraub added.
The flames gave other people just a few minutes to act and caused others to flee into the ocean. A Lahaina man, Bosco Bae, posted a video on Facebook starting Tuesday night that showed a burning chimney in almost every building. A street while sirens sounded and sparks passed through the wind. Bae, who said he was one of the last people to leave the city, evacuated to the island’s main airport and waited to be allowed to return home.
Marlon Vasquez, a 31-year-old Guatemalan cook who arrived in the United States in January 2022, said that by the time he heard the fireplace alarms, it was too late to flee in his car.
“I opened the door and the chimney to the maximum above us,” he told The Associated Press on Thursday from an evacuation center in a gym. “We ran and ran. We ran to the maximum of the night and until the next day because the chimney did not stop. “. “
Vasquez and his brother Eduardo escaped through roads crammed with crowded cars. The smoke was so poisonous that he vomited. He said he wasn’t sure his roommates and neighbors had controlled themselves to safety.
Lahaina’s citizens, Kamuela Kawaakoa and Iiulia Yasso, described their harrowing escape under a smoky sky. The couple and their 6-year-old son returned to their apartment after a quick run to the supermarket for water, and only had time to change their clothes and run as the trees around them catch fire. A map shows wildfires in the state of Hawaii, USA. USA(Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Getty Images)
“We controlled a little bit to get out of there,” said Kawaakoa, 34, at an escape shelter, still not knowing if anything was left of his apartment.
As the circle of relatives fled, they called 911 when they saw Hale Mahaolu’s senior apartment across the street on fire.
Chelsey Vierra’s grandmother, Louise Abihai, lived in Hale Mahaolu, and the circle of relatives does not know if she has come out. “He doesn’t have a phone. He’s 97 years old,” Vierra said Thursday. “He can walk. It’s strong. “
Family members monitor shelter lists and call the hospital. “We want to locate our beloved, but there is no communication here,” said Vierra, who fled the flames. “We don’t know who to ask where he went. “
Communications have been asymmetrical on the island, 911, with constant failures in cellular installations. Power was also cut off in parts of Maui.
Tourists were asked to stay away and about 11,000 left Maui on Wednesday and at least 1,500 are expected to leave by Thursday, according to Ed Sniffen, the state’s transportation director. Authorities have prepared the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu to accommodate the thousands of displaced people.
In the coastal region of Kihei, southeast of Lahaina, swaths of land glowed with embers Wednesday night as flames continued to devour trees and buildings. Gusts of wind threw sparks over a black and orange mosaic of charred earth and hot spots that were still crackling.
The fires were fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora that passed through the south. It’s the latest in a string of mistakes caused by excessive weather around the world this summer. Experts say climate change increases the likelihood of such events.
The wildfires are not in Hawaii, however, weather situations in recent weeks have created fuel for a devastating fire and, once ignited, high winds created a disaster, said Thomas Smith, associate professor of environmental geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Hawaii’s Big Island is also experiencing fires lately, Mayor Mitch Roth said, though there have been no reports of injuries or destroyed homes there.
With communications hampered, it’s difficult for many to connect with friends and family. Some other people were posting on social media. Maui officials have opened a family assistance center circle at the center of Kahului’s network for others searching for missing persons.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara of the Hawaii State Department of Defense told reporters Wednesday night that officials were rushing to repair communications, distribute water and, in all likelihood, load police personnel. He said National Guard helicopters dropped 150,000 gallons (568,000 liters) of water. about the fires.
The Coast Guard said it rescued 14 other people who jumped into the water to escape the flames and smoke.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said Wednesday that the government has not yet begun investigating the immediate cause of the fires.
President Joe Biden declared a primary crisis in Maui. Traveling through Utah on Thursday, he vowed that the federal response will ensure that “anyone who has lost a loved one, or whose home has been broken or destroyed, gets help immediately. “Biden vowed to expedite requests for assistance and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency would “send emergency personnel” to the island.
——
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental policy is supported by several personal foundations. Read more about PA’s climate initiative here. The PA is only for all content.
——–
Sinco Kelleher reported from Honolulu, Rush from Kahului and Weber from Los Angeles. Associated Press editors Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand; Andrew Selsky in Bend, Oregon; Bobby Caina Calvan and Béatrice Dupuy in New York; and Chris Megerian in Salt Lake City, Utah, contributed.