KAHULUI (Hawaii, United States), Aug 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least 36 people have died after a fast-moving wildfire turned a historic Hawaiian town to ashes, officials said, as visitors asked to leave the island of Maui found themselves stranded at the airport.
The fires began burning early Tuesday, scorching thousands of acres and putting homes, businesses and 35,000 lives at risk on Maui, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said in a statement.
Strong winds and dry conditions put much of the state under a fire warning on Wednesday, with more fires burning on Hawaii’s Big Island, the state agency said.
“As the firefighting efforts continue, 36 total fatalities have been discovered today amid the active Lahaina fire,” the Maui county government said in a statement.
US Coast Guard officers had pulled at least a dozen people from the water as emergency services were overwhelmed by a disaster that appeared to have erupted almost without warning.
More than 270 buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the seriously affected town of Lahaina, on the island’s west coast, officials said earlier.
“Much of Lahaina on Maui has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced,” said Governor Josh Green of the 12,000-resident historic town popular with tourists.
Video posted on social media showed blazes tearing through the heart of the beachfront town and sending up huge plumes of black smoke.
“With lives lost and properties decimated, we are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time,” Mayor Richard Bissen said in a video posted to the County of Maui’s official Facebook page.
Nearly 1,000 people were sheltering in a community center and two gymnasiums in the Maui town of Kahului as of Wednesday night, down from about 2,100 on Tuesday, according to a county Facebook post, citing the American Red Cross.
Visitors to Maui were asked by Maui officials to leave the island “as soon as possible,” with buses organized to shuttle travelers from a hotel to Kahului Airport in trips that started Wednesday afternoon, according to another county post.
But many travelers were stranded at the Kahului Airport, due to canceled and delayed flights.
About two dozen flights going in or out of the airport on Thursday were canceled or delayed, according to website FlightAware.
The US military deployed three helicopters to help fight the fires, and others to assist search and rescue operations, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement.
Military helicopters aiding firefighting efforts dropped about 150,000 gallons (570,000 liters) of water in Maui County on Wednesday, US Army Major General Kenneth Hara, the state adjutant general, told a news conference, according to CNN.
Authorities were working to restore cellular communications across the island and distribute water, he added.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approved a state request for federal funding to fight the wildfires, the state emergency management agency said.
The FEMA aid allows for three-quarters of eligible firefighting costs to be reimbursed by the federal government, it said. — NNN-AGENCIES
