Explosive wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui have killed dozens of people, displaced thousands and reduced much of the vibrant, centuries-old town of Lahaina to ash.
As residents are beginning to return to the historic town, Hawaii is starting to reckon with the unfathomable loss left by the deadliest blaze in the US in a century. “What we’ve seen has been catastrophic,” said Josh Green, the governor.
Meanwhile, many remain missing and people are continuing to frantically search for those they haven’t heard from yet. Large swaths of the island remain without cellphone service or electricity. Recovery from the fires, which were fueled by drought-desiccated landscapes and fanned by hurricane winds, will be long, officials warned. Here is how the devastation unfolded, and what we know so far.
***
When and how did the fires start?
Brush fires earlier this week were stoked by strong, dry winds and quickly spread into populated areas. The speed and strength of the blazes took local officials by surprise. “We’ve never experienced a wildfire that affected a city like this before,” Green said during a Thursday news conference.
***
How did the fires spread?
The first major fires appeared to have started just after midnight on Tuesday. The blazes ballooned and by late morning had spread to Lahaina. Winds brought by Hurricane Dora, a category 4 storm building over the Pacific Ocean, helped the fire zip across coastal Lahaina with alarming speed. The fire spread so quickly some residents ran into the ocean to escape – the Coast Guard has rescued more than a dozen people from the water.
By Wednesday morning, the historic town had essentially been razed to the ground. Other fires in Kula and on Pulehu Road in the central valley picked up on Tuesday afternoon.
***
What we know about the death toll
The death toll stood at 96 on Sunday, but that number is likely to rise. Specialized search and rescue teams from California have joined the efforts to find survivors and identify fatalities.
“Understand this: Lahaina Town is hallowed, sacred ground right now because our iwi are in that ground,” said the Maui police chief, John Pelletier, at an afternoon news conference, referring to remains. “We have to get them out. We will get them out as fast as we can.”
***
Firefighting efforts continue
Maui’s small firefighting staff have been joined by national guardsmen and other rescue teams as they battle flare-ups and seek out survivors. The island only had about 65 firefighters working at a time and 13 fire engines designed for urban, rather than off-road or wildland, use.
“You’re basically dealing with trying to fight a blowtorch,” said Bobby Lee, the president of the Hawaii Firefighters Association.
Crews are still fighting fires, across Maui as well as on the island of Hawaii, in areas and ecosystems that have not previously faced significant wildfire threats. Experts say that though the fires across the islands are driven by many factors, the climate crisis has undeniably exacerbated matters.
***
What we know to have been destroyed
Lahaina, which was established in the 1700s and was once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom, has been decimated. Leafy streets lined with art galleries and shops have been singed beyond recognition. At least 2,200 buildings, including homes, schools and places of worship, have been destroyed or damaged in the fires, officials said.
The oldest house on Maui, the Baldwin Home Museum, was razed by the fires, and a beloved 150-year-old banyan tree was singed, though it remains standing. The Waiola church – which is considered the first Christian church on Maui – and the 90-year-old Hongwanji Shin Buddhist temple have been destroyed as well.
***
Road to recovery
Recovery has barely begun. Though thousands of tourists are being evacuated from the island, thousands of locals remain in need of housing. At shelters, residents have been compiling handwritten lists of missing persons.
With swaths of the island without cellphone service, and other areas still inaccessible due to the fires, the true number of fatalities and missing persons remains unclear.
