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11 August 2023
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Maui fires scorch Hawaii resort areas, killing 89; fire fighter hospitalised
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Wildfires fanned by the winds of a distant hurricane devastated Hawaii's Maui island on Wednesday, 9 August 2023, killing at least 89 people and forcing tourists and residents to flee as beloved tourist destinations became flaming infernos in the deadliest wildfire in the United States for over 100 years. Some people were forced to jump into the ocean to escape the smoke and fire conditions, prompting the US Coast Guard to rescue them, according to a Maui County press release.
89 people had been confirmed killed by the fires, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said.
Authorities said earlier Wednesday that a fire fighter in Maui was hospitalised in stable condition after inhaling smoke.
Fire crews on Maui were battling multiple fires concentrated in two areas: the popular tourist destination of West Maui and an inland, mountainous region. In West Maui 911 service was not available and residents were directed to call the police department.
Because of the wind gusts, helicopters weren't able to dump water on the fires from the sky or gauge more precise fire sizes and fire fighters were encountering roads blocked by downed trees and power lines as they worked the inland fires, County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said.
Six patients were flown from Maui to the island of Oahu on Tuesday night, said Speedy Bailey, regional director for Hawaii Life Flight, an air-ambulance company. Three of them had critical burns and were taken to Straub Medical Centre's burn unit, he said. The others were taken to other Honolulu hospitals. At least 20 patients were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Centre, Martin said.
The fires drove people to jump into a harbour to escape flames and smoke and forced people to evacuate Wednesday, authorities said. The Coast Guard said it rescued 14 people in the town of Lahaina who turned to its harbour as refuge Tuesday and all were in stable condition. Officials said Wednesday that hospitals on the island were treating burn patients.
Fire was widespread in Lahaina, a tourist town with a population of 12 000 on the northwestern tip of Maui. Maui county officials reported that more than 2 200 structures were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina, according to official estimates, wreaking $5,5 billion in damage and leaving thousands homeless. "Widespread damage to the West Maui town, the harbour and surrounding areas are being documented," the county said in a statement. Gov Josh Green, who is travelling and was expected to be back in the state Wednesday night, said in a statement that much of the town "has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced."
The American Red Cross opened an evacuation centre in Maui High School, the county said. Kahului Airport, the main airport in Maui, was sheltering 2 000 travellers whose flights were cancelled or who recently arrived on the island, the county added.
"I have ordered all available Federal assets on the Islands to help with response," President Biden said in a statement Wednesday evening. "The Hawaiian National Guard has mobilized Chinook Helicopters to help with fire suppression and search and rescue on the Island of Maui. The US Coast Guard and Navy Third Fleets are supporting response and rescue efforts. The US Marines are providing Black Hawk Helicopters to fight the fires on the Big Island. The Department of Transportation is working with commercial airlines to evacuate tourists from Maui and the Department of the Interior and the United States Department of Agriculture stand ready to support post fire recovery efforts."
The National Weather Service said the current brush fires arise from a mix of conditions: dry vegetation, strong winds and low humidity. According to the University of Hawaii, large fires are an almost annual occurrence in some parts of the Hawaiian archipelago, though the scope of these fires is unusual.
By Tuesday night, 8 August 2023, hundreds of acres had already burned and roads and schools had closed in parts of Hawaii and Maui Counties, according to an emergency proclamation issued by acting Hawaii Governor Sylvia Luke. Hawaii County encompasses the Big Island, which lies south of Maui.
In Maui, the fires also destroyed parts of Kula, a residential area in the inland, mountainous Upcountry region, the proclamation said. By early Wednesday, Maui County had closed all roads into Lahaina. West Maui was closed to everyone except emergency workers and those evacuating the area, according to its social media postings. Maui County officials moved several evacuation sites at local civic centres farther away from Lahaina and other areas affected by the fires to new sites as precautionary measures.
Maui County spokesperson Mahina Martin said on Wednesday that fires were also affecting Kihei, home to a mix of residential homes, condominiums, short-term vacation rentals and visitor facilities in South Maui. Officials say the winds from Hurricane Dora have fanned the flames across the state. The storm was about 795 miles south-southwest of Hawaii as of 05h00am local time, the National Hurricane Centre said. Gale warnings remained in effect for all of the Hawaiian islands, with high winds of 45mph with gusts of 60mph possible.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a disaster declaration to provide assistance with a fire that threatened about 200 homes in and around Kohala Ranch, a rural community with a population of more than 500 on the Big Island, according to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
When the request was made, the fire had burned more than 600 acres and was uncontained. Much of Hawaii was under a red flag warning that continued Wednesday and two other uncontrolled fires were burning on the Big Island and Maui, officials said.
Official details on the extent of casualties and building damages were scant early on Wednesday morning, 9 August 2023 but panicked residents fleeing the flames posted videos and photos on social media showing apocalyptic clouds of smoke billowing up over formerly once-idyllic beaches and palm trees.
The official death toll of 53 as of Thursday makes this the deadliest US wildfire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and laid waste to the town of Paradise. The Hawaii toll could rise, though, as rescuers reach parts of the island that had been inaccessible due to the three ongoing fires, including the one in Lahaina that was 80 percent contained on Thursday, according to a Maui County news release. Dozens of people have been injured, some critically.
“We are still in life preservation mode. Search and rescue is still a primary concern,” said Adam Weintraub, a spokesperson for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
Search and rescue teams still won’t be able to reach certain areas until the fire lines are secure and access is safe, Weintraub added.
With communications hampered, it was difficult for many to check in with friends and family members. Some people were posting messages on social media. A Family Assistance Centre opened at the Kahului Community Center for people looking for the missing.
Maj Gen Kenneth Hara, of the Hawaii State Department of Defence, said Wednesday night that officials were working to get communications restored, distribute water and possibly add law enforcement personnel. He said National Guard helicopters had dropped 150 000 gallons (568 000 litres) of water on the fires.
Flyover
A flyover of historic Lahaina showed entire neighbourhoods that had been a vibrant vision of colour and island life reduced to gray ash. Block after block was nothing but rubble and blackened foundations, including along famous Front Street, where tourists shopped and dined just days ago. Boats in the harbour were scorched, and smoke hovered over the town, which dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side. “Lahaina, with a few rare exceptions, has been burned down,” Hawaii Gov Josh Green told The Associated Press. More than 1 000 structures were destroyed by fires that were still burning, he said.
Already the state’s deadliest natural disaster since a 1960 tsunami killed 61 people on the Big Island, the death toll will likely rise further as search and rescue operations continue, Green added.
‘The harbour is gone’
Dustin Johnson, a native of San Diego, was in West Maui’s Lahaina working for a charter boat company that takes tourists on two-hour tours from the harbour. “I was the last one off the dock when the firestorm came through the banyan trees and took everything with it,” he told Reuters in an interview at Kahului Airport, a 25-minute drive east of Lahaina. “And I just ran out and helped everyone I could along the way.”
Business owner Alan Dickar told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he wasn’t sure what remained of his Vintage European Posters gallery on the now-decimated Front Street in Lahaina, home to about 13 000 residents. Dickar followed county orders and evacuated with his two cats before flames engulfed the main strip of shops and restaurants. “Everyone who comes to Maui, the one place they go is Front Street,” he told the paper, describing the central two blocks of the street as the “economic heart” of the island. “I don’t know what’s left,” he added.
Ian Martin, an NWS forecaster in Honolulu, told Reuters that the worst of the high winds should end by late Wednesday or early Thursday.
The situation in Hawaii mirrored scenes of devastation elsewhere in the world this summer, as wildfires caused by record-setting heat forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe.
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 government officials must slash emissions to prevent climate catastrophe.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press
89 people had been confirmed killed by the fires, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said.
Authorities said earlier Wednesday that a fire fighter in Maui was hospitalised in stable condition after inhaling smoke.
Fire crews on Maui were battling multiple fires concentrated in two areas: the popular tourist destination of West Maui and an inland, mountainous region. In West Maui 911 service was not available and residents were directed to call the police department.
Because of the wind gusts, helicopters weren't able to dump water on the fires from the sky or gauge more precise fire sizes and fire fighters were encountering roads blocked by downed trees and power lines as they worked the inland fires, County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin said.
Six patients were flown from Maui to the island of Oahu on Tuesday night, said Speedy Bailey, regional director for Hawaii Life Flight, an air-ambulance company. Three of them had critical burns and were taken to Straub Medical Centre's burn unit, he said. The others were taken to other Honolulu hospitals. At least 20 patients were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Centre, Martin said.
The fires drove people to jump into a harbour to escape flames and smoke and forced people to evacuate Wednesday, authorities said. The Coast Guard said it rescued 14 people in the town of Lahaina who turned to its harbour as refuge Tuesday and all were in stable condition. Officials said Wednesday that hospitals on the island were treating burn patients.
Fire was widespread in Lahaina, a tourist town with a population of 12 000 on the northwestern tip of Maui. Maui county officials reported that more than 2 200 structures were damaged or destroyed as the fire tore through Lahaina, according to official estimates, wreaking $5,5 billion in damage and leaving thousands homeless. "Widespread damage to the West Maui town, the harbour and surrounding areas are being documented," the county said in a statement. Gov Josh Green, who is travelling and was expected to be back in the state Wednesday night, said in a statement that much of the town "has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced."
The American Red Cross opened an evacuation centre in Maui High School, the county said. Kahului Airport, the main airport in Maui, was sheltering 2 000 travellers whose flights were cancelled or who recently arrived on the island, the county added.
"I have ordered all available Federal assets on the Islands to help with response," President Biden said in a statement Wednesday evening. "The Hawaiian National Guard has mobilized Chinook Helicopters to help with fire suppression and search and rescue on the Island of Maui. The US Coast Guard and Navy Third Fleets are supporting response and rescue efforts. The US Marines are providing Black Hawk Helicopters to fight the fires on the Big Island. The Department of Transportation is working with commercial airlines to evacuate tourists from Maui and the Department of the Interior and the United States Department of Agriculture stand ready to support post fire recovery efforts."
The National Weather Service said the current brush fires arise from a mix of conditions: dry vegetation, strong winds and low humidity. According to the University of Hawaii, large fires are an almost annual occurrence in some parts of the Hawaiian archipelago, though the scope of these fires is unusual.
By Tuesday night, 8 August 2023, hundreds of acres had already burned and roads and schools had closed in parts of Hawaii and Maui Counties, according to an emergency proclamation issued by acting Hawaii Governor Sylvia Luke. Hawaii County encompasses the Big Island, which lies south of Maui.
In Maui, the fires also destroyed parts of Kula, a residential area in the inland, mountainous Upcountry region, the proclamation said. By early Wednesday, Maui County had closed all roads into Lahaina. West Maui was closed to everyone except emergency workers and those evacuating the area, according to its social media postings. Maui County officials moved several evacuation sites at local civic centres farther away from Lahaina and other areas affected by the fires to new sites as precautionary measures.
Maui County spokesperson Mahina Martin said on Wednesday that fires were also affecting Kihei, home to a mix of residential homes, condominiums, short-term vacation rentals and visitor facilities in South Maui. Officials say the winds from Hurricane Dora have fanned the flames across the state. The storm was about 795 miles south-southwest of Hawaii as of 05h00am local time, the National Hurricane Centre said. Gale warnings remained in effect for all of the Hawaiian islands, with high winds of 45mph with gusts of 60mph possible.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a disaster declaration to provide assistance with a fire that threatened about 200 homes in and around Kohala Ranch, a rural community with a population of more than 500 on the Big Island, according to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
When the request was made, the fire had burned more than 600 acres and was uncontained. Much of Hawaii was under a red flag warning that continued Wednesday and two other uncontrolled fires were burning on the Big Island and Maui, officials said.
Official details on the extent of casualties and building damages were scant early on Wednesday morning, 9 August 2023 but panicked residents fleeing the flames posted videos and photos on social media showing apocalyptic clouds of smoke billowing up over formerly once-idyllic beaches and palm trees.
The official death toll of 53 as of Thursday makes this the deadliest US wildfire since the 2018 Camp Fire in California, which killed at least 85 people and laid waste to the town of Paradise. The Hawaii toll could rise, though, as rescuers reach parts of the island that had been inaccessible due to the three ongoing fires, including the one in Lahaina that was 80 percent contained on Thursday, according to a Maui County news release. Dozens of people have been injured, some critically.
“We are still in life preservation mode. Search and rescue is still a primary concern,” said Adam Weintraub, a spokesperson for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
Search and rescue teams still won’t be able to reach certain areas until the fire lines are secure and access is safe, Weintraub added.
With communications hampered, it was difficult for many to check in with friends and family members. Some people were posting messages on social media. A Family Assistance Centre opened at the Kahului Community Center for people looking for the missing.
Maj Gen Kenneth Hara, of the Hawaii State Department of Defence, said Wednesday night that officials were working to get communications restored, distribute water and possibly add law enforcement personnel. He said National Guard helicopters had dropped 150 000 gallons (568 000 litres) of water on the fires.
Flyover
A flyover of historic Lahaina showed entire neighbourhoods that had been a vibrant vision of colour and island life reduced to gray ash. Block after block was nothing but rubble and blackened foundations, including along famous Front Street, where tourists shopped and dined just days ago. Boats in the harbour were scorched, and smoke hovered over the town, which dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side. “Lahaina, with a few rare exceptions, has been burned down,” Hawaii Gov Josh Green told The Associated Press. More than 1 000 structures were destroyed by fires that were still burning, he said.
Already the state’s deadliest natural disaster since a 1960 tsunami killed 61 people on the Big Island, the death toll will likely rise further as search and rescue operations continue, Green added.
‘The harbour is gone’
Dustin Johnson, a native of San Diego, was in West Maui’s Lahaina working for a charter boat company that takes tourists on two-hour tours from the harbour. “I was the last one off the dock when the firestorm came through the banyan trees and took everything with it,” he told Reuters in an interview at Kahului Airport, a 25-minute drive east of Lahaina. “And I just ran out and helped everyone I could along the way.”
Business owner Alan Dickar told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser he wasn’t sure what remained of his Vintage European Posters gallery on the now-decimated Front Street in Lahaina, home to about 13 000 residents. Dickar followed county orders and evacuated with his two cats before flames engulfed the main strip of shops and restaurants. “Everyone who comes to Maui, the one place they go is Front Street,” he told the paper, describing the central two blocks of the street as the “economic heart” of the island. “I don’t know what’s left,” he added.
Ian Martin, an NWS forecaster in Honolulu, told Reuters that the worst of the high winds should end by late Wednesday or early Thursday.
The situation in Hawaii mirrored scenes of devastation elsewhere in the world this summer, as wildfires caused by record-setting heat forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe.
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 government officials must slash emissions to prevent climate catastrophe.
Sources: Reuters, Associated Press
