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More of the Maui wildfire that devastated the town of Lahaina was contained Thursday, but as the damage became clearer Hawaii’s governor said the disaster will likely be historic.
“What we saw was likely the largest natural disaster in Hawaii state history,” Gov. Josh Green said. He compared it to the tsunami that struck the Big Island in 1960, killing 61 people.
The number of people confirmed dead in the wildfires rose Friday to 55, but officials don’t know how many people died in the fire in and around Lahaina or how many people may still be missing. Recovery of remains is expected to take days and weeks, the governor said.
The fire that struck Lahaina was 80% contained Thursday, officials said. None of three fires burning were 100% contained, Maui County Fire Chief Brad Ventura said.
Green said the damage from the fires was “without a doubt” in the billions of dollars.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden approved a major disaster declaration and ordered additional federal aid. Green said that will allow rental assistance and FEMA grants to people, and aid to small businesses.
What to know about the wildfires:
- The deaths of 55 people have been confirmed from fires that tore through Maui, and mass evacuations continue for visitors and residents.
- Six fires are burning on Maui and the Big Island. Officials reported progress in battling the blazes, saying the Lahaina fire is now 80% contained.
- Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said the fires are likely to be the largest natural disaster in the state’s history.
- President Joe Biden pledged that the federal disaster response will ensure that “anyone who’s lost a loved one, whose home has been damaged or destroyed, is going to get help immediately.”
- NBC News' Miguel Almaguer and Dana Griffin are reporting from Maui.
Also Thursday, some airlines sent help. United canceled flights so empty planes could be flown to Maui to help tourists and other visitors leave. Alaska Airlines said it was sending rescue flights. County officials have asked visitors to leave in order to focus on the crisis.
California and Nevada said they were sending urban search and rescue teams, including dogs.
The death toll as it is currently known makes it one of the deadliest wildfires in American history.
The Camp Fire in California that devastated the town of Paradise in 2018 killed 85 people. That fire has been called the deadliest wildfire in U.S. history in the previous 100 years. It was the deadliest and most destructive in California state history, according to state officials.
Death toll rises to at least 55
The number of people confirmed to have died in the devastating Maui fire is now 55, local officials said early Friday.
"As firefighting efforts continue, 2 additional fatalities have been confirmed today amid the active Lahaina fire," Maui county said in a news release.
Lahaina's historic banyan tree smoldering but still standing, U.S. Sen. Schatz posts
Lahaina mourns loss of culture, community mainstays for Native Hawaiians.
Residents of Lahaina are mourning the loss of nearly all their cultural institutions. Among them is a 200-year-old church, which Native Hawaiians say has been a mainstay in their community for centuries.
“It was a gathering place, it was a staple of Lahaina,” said Kūhiō Lewis, the CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement. “Like when you think of Seattle, you think of the Space Needle. In Lahaina, it was that church.”
Waiola Church has been standing since Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii in the 1800s, he said. It just celebrated its 200th anniversary this year. It was the main location of community meetings both in the 1820s and the 2020s, and it was the burial site of early members of the Hawaiian royal family.
One of the first marks of Christianity on Maui, it’s now listed as permanently closed on Google Maps.
Emergency doctor describes treating Maui fire victims in shelters
Within two hours of learning about the explosive wildfires in Maui, Dr. Reza Danesh had stocked his mobile medical clinic with antibiotics, food and water. He set out for Lahaina, a community now almost entirely devastated by the flames.
Danesh said he spent 14 hours Wednesday driving people to evacuation shelters, treating them in his mobile clinic and helping triage evacuees. One woman he treated was covered in small burns. She told him she jumped into the ocean to avoid the flames, along with her neighbors — one of whom died, she said.
“I heard that story, and I was just so sad,” Danesh said. “There she was, keeping her spirits, and her pets had all died, and she had nothing, and I’m taking care of her wounds.”
None of wildfires that broke out Tuesday are 100% contained
Progress has been made in the deadliest of the Maui wildfires that broke out Tuesday, but none were fully contained, and spot fires continued to break out, the Maui County fire chief said.
The Lahaina fire, which began Tuesday morning and devastated the town of the same name, was 80% contained today, officials said.
Several fires broke out Tuesday starting shortly after midnight, fueled by high winds, Maui County Fire Chief Brad Ventura said. Wind gusts of 60 mph were observed during the Lahaina fire, he said.
“Additionally, we’ve had many small fires in between these large fires,” he said at a news conference.
Ventura said the burn areas are still very hazardous.
"Things are falling every minute around us, and there have been some people hurt by falling telephone poles," he said.
Rebuilding Lahaina ‘is going to take many years’
It will be years before the West Maui town of Lahaina is rebuilt, and so much was damaged that it will be a new community, Green said today.
“When you see full extent of the destruction of Lahaina, it will shock you,” the governor said at a news conference.
Green said the damage in Maui due to wind-fueled wildfires will be in the billions of dollars.
“It does appear like a bomb and fire went off, if I may. And all of those buildings virtually are going to have to be rebuilt,” he said.
Total number of people killed and missing is unknown
The recovery of remains of those killed in a devastating wildfire that struck Lahaina is expected to take days and go into weeks, officials said today as they asked for patience.
So far 53 deaths have been confirmed after the fire in the Lahaina town area, Maui County Police Chief John Pelletier said. There are other fires in other parts of Maui.
“There will be active recovery over the coming days and weeks of the bones of those who have been lost,” Green said.
Pelletier said Lahaina was considered “sacred ground.”
“We have to respect the fact that we’ve got loved ones in that earth, and we’ve got to do the right thing and get them out the right way. That’s going to take time,” he said.
Officials also don’t know exactly how many people are missing, Pelletier said.
