Wind-whipped wildfires in Hawaii forced hundreds of evacuations Wednesday, overwhelmed hospitals and even sent some residents fleeing into the ocean to escape the flames as parts of the popular tourist destination turned into a raging inferno in a matter of hours.
Six people have died in the wildfires, Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen said at a press conference Wednesday.
Homes and businesses went up in smoke in historic Lahaina Town in Maui, where blazes fueled by wind from a passing hurricane were concentrated. In addition, a fire in a rural community of the Big Island threatened about 200 homes.
County of Maui spokesperson Mahina Martin told USA TODAY the fires are affecting two areas of the island: Lahaina, a residential and tourist area with a commercial district in West Maui, and Kula, a residential area in the inland, mountainous upcountry region.
Locals and visitors scrambled to get information and reach loved ones amid power blackouts and downed cellular and 911 service as well as phone lines in different parts of the islands.
Tiare Lawrence, who grew up in Lahaina, was trying to get in touch with her siblings while providing refuge at her home for 14 cousins and uncles who fled the heat, smoke and flames in Lahaina.
“It was apocalyptic from what they explained,” she said.
Maui county officials said multiple structures have burned and multiple evacuation orders are in place as emergency crews battle brush and structure fires. Martin said it’s still unclear how many people have been evacuated, how large the fires are and how many structures have been damaged.
“It’s been an unprecedented incident striking large areas of our island and it has been pretty much all hands on deck,” she said.
Acting Gov. Sylvia Luke and Maui Mayor Richard Bissen have issued emergency proclamations in response to the fire. The Hawaii National Guard has been activated and is assisting the Maui Police Department at traffic control points, according to the Hawaii Adjutant General.
The National Weather Service said Hurricane Dora, which was passing 500 miles south of the island chain, and a very strong high pressure north of the state produced powerful, damaging winds through the overnight hours.
“Very dry fuels combined with strong and gusty easterly winds and low humidities will produce critical fire weather conditions through the afternoon hours,” the weather service said in a red flag warning for leeward areas issued Wednesday.
Governor has contacted White House, says ‘loss of life is expected’
Gov. Josh Green said in a statement Wednesday that he expects to request a Presidential Disaster Declaration from the White House in the next 36 to 48 hours once officials have a better understanding of the scope of the damage.
Green was planning to be out of state for personal travel until next week but will return Wednesday night to address the crisis. He said while the “heroic efforts” of first responders have prevented many causalities, “some loss of life is expected.”
“Our state appreciates the incredible outpouring of concern and prayers from the mainland. We won’t forget the aloha you have already begun to share with us,” Green said.
‘We just lost a large part of our heritage,’ official says
While it’s still difficult to assess the damage, state Sen. Gilbert Keith-Agaran cited various landmarks that have reportedly been lost – historic businesses and buildings, temples and cemeteries where royal figures were buried.
“It’s a real loss. Hawaii and Maui have tried really hard to preserve and protect those places for many, many years … not for the sake of tourism but because it’s part of our cultural heritage,” said Keith-Agaran, whose district includes Kahului in central Maui. Lahaina, where the largest fires are concentrated, was once the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom.
“We just lost a large part of our heritage,” he said.
Brush and wildfires are not unheard of in Hawaii’s leeward regions during the dry season. Several years ago, Maui suffered a massive brush fire on the same side of the island, primarily on the slopes. “This is so much worse,” Keith-Agaran said, pointing to the scope of the current blaze.
“No matter how much you prepare, you’re not going to be ready for something that moves as quickly and as big as this,” he said. “I don’t think we had enough equipment or people to be fighting fires upcountry, small fires in central Maui and then this huge fire on the west side.”
− Alia Wong
Burn victims sent to other islands
Six patients were flown from Maui to the island of Oahu on Tuesday night, said Speedy Bailey, regional director for the air-ambulance company Hawaii Life Flight. Three of them had critical burns and were taken to Straub Medical Center’s burn unit in Honolulu, he said. The others were taken to other Honolulu hospitals. At least 20 patients were taken to Maui Memorial Medical Center, said Bailey, who was not aware of any deaths.
“We are already in communication with other hospital systems about relieving the burden – the reality is that we need to fly people out of Maui to give them burn support because Maui hospital cannot do extensive burn treatment,” Luke said. “In addition to dealing with disaster, we’re dealing with major transportation issues as well.”
Resident of nearby island searching for family in Maui
Leomana Turalde’s mother called him on the phone crying Wednesday morning, saying she never went to sleep on Tuesday night in Maui amid the massive fires.
Turalde said he has several “aunties” who live on Maui, two blocks away from Lahaina’s popular Front Street. Wednesday morning, one of the women went missing, he told USA TODAY. It is impossible to get in touch with some people because cellphone infrastructure on Maui burned down, he said.
“Lahaina Town is now burnt down to ashes,” said Turalde, 36, who runs a sunscreen company. “Most of the families on Maui, if you never made contact with your family before sunset last night, you’re still trying to figure out where they are.”
He said he is boarding a plane on Wednesday to Maui from where he lives on the island of Hawaii to help family members search for missing relatives near their homestead property, which he said burned down.
“I’m going to go to the first place that everybody would go to when they’re in trouble, and that’s the house, even though the house isn’t there,” he said. “Home is usually the first place you should start if people are missing.”
− Claire Thornton
All roads to historic Lahaina Town closed as Front Street burns
“Do NOT go to Lahaina town,” officials warned.
Green said much of the area “has been destroyed and hundreds of local families have been displaced.”
Front Street business owner Alan Dickar told CBS News buildings on both sides of the street in the popular tourist area were engulfed in flames. Dickar said it appeared the fire department was overwhelmed.
“Maui can’t handle this,” Dickar said. “A lot of people just lost their jobs because a lot of businesses burned. A lot of people lost their homes. … This is going to be devastating for Maui.”
Lahaina’s historic Waiola Church and the neighboring Lahaina Hongwanji Mission temple were among the structures that caught fire Wednesday, the Maui News reported. The church was established in 1823, and its graveyard, believed to be the first Christian cemetery in Hawaii, is the final resting place for early members of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii, according to its website.
Maui fires map
Track the latest wildfire and red flag warnings here with data that is updated based on input from several incident and intelligence sources.
Nearly 2,000 people stuck at Maui airport
Martin said the Kahului Airport in Maui has more than 2,000 visitors who have either canceled flights or had nowhere to go. The Hawaii Department of Transportation said Wednesday about 1,800 people sheltered in place overnight in the airport with many highways on the island’s west site still closed.
“HDOT worked with airlines/TSA to shelter passengers for safety’s sake as wildfires continue to burn in Lahaina and upcountry,” officials said on X, formerly Twitter.
Nearly 100 firefighters have been on duty, including 11 from state airport rescue personnel, county officials said.
10 schools closed, including one converted to evacuation shelter
Ten public schools in Maui will be closed Wednesday including one that is being used as an evacuation shelter, according to the Hawaii Department of Education.
Student boarders at Lahainaluna High School were moved Tuesday evening to Maui High School, which is being used as a shelter for evacuees, to be picked up by family members or emergency contacts, officials said. The Lahainaluna campus remained closed Wednesday because of a lack of power, wind damage and brush fire evacuations.
As the brush fire spread to Kihei, officials announced Tuesday four public schools in South Maui would be closed in addition to schools in West, Upcountry and Central Maui.
Homes destroyed, residents evacuated
The Coast Guard has been responding to areas where residents are “entering the ocean due to smoke and fire conditions,” county officials said. A Coast Guard boat rescued 12 people from the waters off Lahaina, officials said on X, formerly Twitter.
Lawrence told Hawaii News Now people were running for their lives. She said the homes of everyone she knows in Lahaina have been down.
“It’s just so hard. I’m currently Upcountry and just knowing I can’t get a hold of any of my family members. I still don’t know where my little brother is. I don’t know where my stepdad is,” she said.
In Kula, at least two homes were destroyed in a fire that engulfed about 1,100 acres, Bissen told The Associated Press. About 80 people were evacuated from 40 homes, he said.
The Red Cross has opened several emergency shelters for residents. Martin said one evacuation center alone had more than 1,200 people.
“I am absolutely certain they are very anxious at our evacuation centers,” she said.
Wildfire smoke map:See where fires are burning in Hawaii and across the US
Thousands without power, 911 service no longer available in West Maui
More than 14,000 customers in Maui County were without power, according to Poweroutage.us. County officials advised residents to stay at least 30 feet from downed power lines, which at one point restricted travel along parts of Honoapiilani Highway. Part of the highway was reopened Tuesday evening to allow access in and out of Lahaina, but motorists were told to expect traffic to move slowly through the bypass.
In West Maui, 911 service is no longer available. Martin said it’s been “very difficult” to manage evacuation orders in Lahaina because the area does not have cell service and only landlines are functioning.
The island of Oahu, where Honolulu is located, also was dealing with power outages, downed power lines and traffic problems, said Adam Weintraub, communication director for Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
Strong winds are fueling the flames
In Kula, winds were recorded at 80 mph, “which greatly affected the speed and the movement of the fire,” Martin said.
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 firefighters were encountering roads blocked by downed trees and power lines as they worked the inland fires, Martin previously told the Associated Press.
Maui fire officials warned that erratic wind, challenging terrain, steep slopes and dropping humidity combined with the direction and the location of the fire have made it difficult to predict its path and speed. The wind can also sends fire embers up and ignite sparks downwind, creating fires far from their source, officials said.
“The fire can be a mile or more from your house, but in a minute or two, it can be at your house,” said Fire Assistant Chief Jeff Giesea. “Burning airborne materials can light fires a great distance away from the main body of fire.”
Fires also burning on the Big Island
Hawaii County officials said Tuesday that they are monitoring two brush fires burning in North and South Kohala. The fires prompted evacuations and power outages in the area.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday approved the state’s request for a disaster declaration to provide assistance with “the wind-whipped Kohala Ranch wildfire on the Big Island,” according to a news release from the governor’s office.
The fire, which began early Tuesday, threatened about 200 homes near the rural community of Kohala Ranch, a volunteer fire department, local electrical transmission lines and an AT&T cellular communications tower in the area, officials said The fire was uncontained and had burned more than 600 acres of land when the request for federal assistance was made.
The release said firefighters battling that fire and the two other uncontrolled fires on the Big Island and Maui “have been hampered by the winds, which made it impossible to provide aircraft support for their efforts to contain the flames.”
“We’re trying to protect homes in the community,” Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth said of evacuating about 400 homes in four communities in the northern part of the island. As of Tuesday, the roof of one house caught on fire, he said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
