A man walks past wildfire wreckage on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii.Tiffany Kidder Winn/The Associated Press
The search of wildfire wreckage on the Hawaiian island of Maui on Thursday revealed a wasteland of burned-out homes and obliterated communities as firefighters battled the stubborn blaze that has already claimed at least 53 lives, making it the deadliest in the U.S. in recent years.
Fuelled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the fire started Tuesday and took the island by surprise, racing through parched growth and neighbourhoods in the historic town of Lahaina, a tourist destination that dates to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side.
Raging Hawaii wildfires
Wildfires fanned by hurricane winds have killed dozens and
devastated the historic town of Lahaina on Hawaii’s Maui island
100km
Kauai
Oahu
Niihau
Honolulu
Molokai
Lanai
Maui
Pacific Ocean
Hawaii
Kahului
Airport
Lahaina:
Many homes
and businesses
destroyed.
Harbour devastated.
More than 11,000
people evacuated
MAUI
Pulehu
Kihei
5km
Areas affected by fires (Aug. 8-10)
Flames fanned by gusts of above 97km/h from
Hurricane Dora passing hundreds of kilometres
south of Hawaii, coupled with low humidity levels
Kahoolawe
graphic news, Sources: AP; Reuters; NASA’s Resource
Management System (FIRMS)
Raging Hawaii wildfires
Wildfires fanned by hurricane winds have killed dozens and
devastated the historic town of Lahaina on Hawaii’s Maui island
100km
Kauai
Oahu
Niihau
Honolulu
Molokai
Lanai
Maui
Pacific Ocean
Hawaii
Kahului
Airport
Lahaina:
Many homes
and businesses
destroyed.
Harbour devastated.
More than 11,000
people evacuated
MAUI
Pulehu
Kihei
5km
Areas affected by fires (Aug. 8-10)
Flames fanned by gusts of above 97km/h from
Hurricane Dora passing hundreds of kilometres
south of Hawaii, coupled with low humidity levels
Kahoolawe
graphic news, Sources: AP; Reuters; NASA’s Resource
Management System (FIRMS)
Raging Hawaii wildfires
Wildfires fanned by hurricane winds have killed dozens and devastated
the historic town of Lahaina on Hawaii’s Maui island
100km
Kauai
Oahu
Niihau
Honolulu
Molokai
Lanai
Maui
Pacific Ocean
Hawaii
Kahului
Airport
Lahaina:
Many homes
and businesses
destroyed.
Harbour devastated.
More than 11,000
people evacuated
MAUI
Pulehu
Kihei
5km
Kahoolawe
Areas affected by fires (Aug. 8-10)
Flames fanned by gusts of above 97km/h from
Hurricane Dora passing hundreds of kilometres
south of Hawaii, coupled with low humidity levels
graphic news, Sources: AP; Reuters; NASA’s Resource Management System (FIRMS)
Maui County said Thursday that the death toll makes the tragedy the worst U.S. 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 unreachable because of continuing fires or obstructions. Officials said Wednesday that hundreds of structures had been damaged or destroyed and that dozens of people had been injured.
“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.
He said search and rescue teams still won’t be able to access certain areas until the fire lines are secure and they’re sure that they’re going to be able to get to those areas safely.
“What we have here is a natural disaster,” Mr. Weintraub said. “There may have been questions that need to be examined about whether it was handled in the right way. But we still got people in danger. We still have people who don’t have homes. We still have people who can’t find their loved ones.”
Devastating wildfire closes airport, delays return to Canada for some travellers
Canadians in Maui are being urged by Global Affairs Canada to think about whether they really need to be there and if not, to strongly consider leaving. It has issued an advisory telling Canadians to avoid non-essential travel to the island.
In a written statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Canadians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact Global Affairs’ emergency response centre via phone, text or online platforms such as WhatsApp.
“Canadians are strongly advised to exercise caution, to monitor local news and weather reports and to follow the instructions of local authorities, including evacuation orders,’’ Ms. Joly said in the statement.
Air Canada and WestJet said Thursday that they were adding emergency flights to ferry people back home. WestJet said it has scheduled a one-way recovery flight from Maui to Vancouver on Friday, while Air Canada ran a similar flight Wednesday evening and Thursday night.
The flights are in addition to the airlines’ regularly scheduled trips. Meantime, WestJet moved to restrict traffic flow onto the devastated island, cancelling three flights from Vancouver to Maui Thursday and Friday. The company called the move “an abundance of caution.”
A Vancouver man who lives part time on Maui has described how an enormous “firestorm” engulfed Lahaina.
Brad Desaulniers, 61, has owned a home in Kihei, about 30 kilometres from Lahaina, for 20 years.
He said he watched smoke rising over the water and hills that separate the two towns.
“It was a firestorm,” Mr. Desaulniers said in a phone interview from Kihei. “There was an entire firestorm that was two miles wide and two miles deep that just raced across and destroyed everything in its path.”
“There have been more and more wildfires in Maui for the last 10 years, but nothing like this.”
Mr. Desaulniers said his home was far from the fires and not damaged, but the entire northwest of Maui has been “shut down” with no road access, no electricity and limited cellphone service.
“You can feel on the island right now, everywhere you go, a sense of shock and sadness,” he said. “The people who’ve died … the homes that were lost, the businesses that were lost and the historical value of Lahaina is irreplaceable.”
The flames left some people with mere minutes to act and led some to flee into the ocean. A Lahaina man, Bosco Bae, posted video on Facebook from Tuesday night that showed fire burning nearly every building on a street as sirens blared and spark-filled winds roared by. Mr. Bae, who said he was one of the last people to leave the town, was evacuated to the island’s main airport and was waiting to be allowed to return home.
As the fires rage, tourists were advised to stay away, and about 11,000 flew out of Maui on Wednesday, with at least another 1,500 expected to leave Thursday, according to Ed Sniffen, state transportation director. Officials prepared the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu to take in the thousands who have been displaced.
Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said the island had “been tested like never before in our lifetime.”
“We are grieving with each other during this inconsolable time,” he said in a recorded statement. “In the days ahead, we will be stronger as a ‘kaiaulu,’ or community, as we rebuild with resilience and aloha.”
The fires were fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora passing far to the south. It’s the latest in a series of disasters caused by extreme weather around the globe this summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of such events.
Wildfires aren’t unusual in Hawaii, but the weather of the past few weeks created the fuel for a devastating blaze and, once ignited, the high winds created the disaster, said Thomas Smith an associate professor in Environmental Geography at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
“The vegetation in the lowland areas of Maui is particularly parched this year, with below-average precipitation in the spring, and hardly any rainfall this summer.” Prof. Smith said.
The Big Island is also currently seeing blazes, Mayor Mitch Roth said, although there had been no reports of injuries or destroyed homes there.
As winds eased somewhat on Maui on Wednesday, pilots were able to view the full scope of the devastation. Aerial video from Lahaina showed dozens of homes and businesses razed, including on Front Street, where tourists once gathered to shop and dine. Smoking heaps of rubble lay piled high next to the waterfront, boats in the harbour were scorched, and grey smoke hovered over the leafless skeletons of charred trees.
“It’s horrifying. I’ve flown here 52 years and I’ve never seen anything come close to that,” said Richard Olsten, a helicopter pilot for a tour company. “We had tears in our eyes.”
Power was out in parts of Maui. Cellular service was down, too, making it difficult for many to check in with friends and family members. Some were posting messages on social media.
The Coast Guard said it rescued 14 people who had jumped into the water to escape the flames and smoke.
Mauro Farinelli, of Lahaina, said the winds started blowing hard on Tuesday, and then somehow a fire started up on a hillside.
“It just ripped through everything with amazing speed,” he said, adding it was “like a blowtorch.”
The winds were so strong they blew his garage door off its hinges and trapped his car in the garage, Mr. Farinelli said. So a friend drove him, along with his wife, Judit, and dog, Susi, to an evacuation shelter. He had no idea what had happened to their home.
“We’re hoping for the best,” he said, “but we’re pretty sure it’s gone.”
Governor Josh Green cut short a trip and returned late Wednesday.
“Lahaina, with a few rare exceptions, has been burned down,” Mr. Green said after walking the town Thursday morning with Mr. Bissen, the mayor. “Without a doubt, it feel like a bomb was dropped on Lahaina.”
President Joe Biden declared a major disaster on Maui. While travelling in Utah on Thursday, Mr. Biden pledged that the federal response will ensure that “anyone who’s lost a loved one, or who’s home has been damaged or destroyed, is going to get help immediately.”
Mr. Biden promised to streamline requests for assistance and said the Federal Emergency Management Agency was “surging emergency personnel” on the island. “Our prayers are with the people of Hawaii. But not just our prayers. Every asset we have will be available to them,” he said.
With reports from Mike Hager, Jane Skrypnek and The Canadian Press