Hawaii fires: death toll increases to 67, says Maui county – live

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The updated fatality count of 67 makes the Maui wildfires the deadliest natural disaster in the state’s history. Before that designation went to a tsunami in Hilo in 1960, a town on the island of Hawaii, CNN has reported.

The wave that hit Hilo Bay reached a heigh of 35 feet compared to 5-17 waves that landed elsewhere, according to the US geological survey.

Maui wildfire death toll rises to 67

The county of Maui has announced that 67 people have lost their lives in the wildfires that continue to ravage Maui, the county announced moments ago.

The Lahaina fire is not yet contained.

The recent wildfires in Maui are projected to be the second costliest disaster in the state’s history the Associated Press has reported.

It comes second to Hurricane Iniki, which swept through Kauai in September 1992, killed six people and left an estimation $3b in damages, according to a Central pacific hurricane center report.

Maui wildifire death count rises to 59

Fifty-nine people have been killed in the recent wildfires on Maui, according to Hawaii governor Josh Green.

All of those deaths occurred out in the open, not inside buildings, as people were trying to escape the fire,” Green told CNN on Friday.

Residents and cadaver-sniffing dogs are inspecting what is left of Lahaina after the devastating fires decimated homes and business.

Those who returned found heirlooms and keepsakes destroyed or missing.

“My kids’ yearbooks and all that kind of stuff. Their baby pictures. That’s what hurts a mother the most,” Lana Vierra, a Lahaina resident whose home was destroyed in Tuesday’s fire told the Associated Press.

Fellow residents Summer and Gilles Gerling visited their charred home and discovered that their wedding rings were missing. They were able to recover a piggy bank Summer father gave her as a child, their daughter’s jade bracelet and wedding gifts they got for each other.

“It is what it is,” Gilles told the AP. “Safety was the main concern. These are all material things.”

Cadaver-sniffing dogs were brought in Friday to assist the search for the dead, the Maui county mayor, Richard Bissen Jr said.

Read the rest of the AP’s on the ground coverage here.

Governor says unclear if emergency siren system failed

Hawaii governor Josh Green told NBC News he couldn’t say whether Maui’s emergency siren system worked properly before the deadly wildfires spread:

It’s too early for me to tell. Much of the equipment was destroyed with fire and it’s a very remote place. This was a western edge of the island of Maui. Of course, we would never diminish any kind of responsibility …

I’m very reluctant to blame anyone. We were fighting multiple fires that were being moved. Because of these winds, we’re of course, like everyone else, dealing with the extreme changes, global warming, the drying of our land. And then when this storm passed to the south of Hawaii, that was the hurricane – it sent those winds.”

Officials said late on Thursday that the state’s emergency management records did not indicate that sirens were triggered, even though the state has said it has the world’s largest integrated outdoor all-hazard public safety warning system, the Guardian previously reported. The county’s system did send emergency alerts to cellphones and television and radio stations, but power outages may have limited the impact.

Elizabeth Pickett, co-executive director of the nonprofit Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization, was critical of the state’s response in an interview with the the Honolulu Civil Beat. She co-wrote a report in 2014 that warned of the increasing wildfire risk to Lahaina. She told the media outlet:

We keep hearing from certain elected officials and other people being quoted in the media, ‘We had no idea, this is unprecedented.’ But actually, those of us in the wildfire community, meaning our fire agencies, our forestry natural resource management community, we have long been working to increase our risk reduction efforts…

It might not have been 100% preventable, but it could have been mitigated. It could have been lessened.”

Photos of the search operations and devastation

Here are some more images of the significant destruction and ongoing search and rescue operations in Lahaina:

Wildfire wreckage is shown in Lahaina, including crumbling housing structures and burnt out cars. Photograph: Rick Bowmer/AP

An an aerial view shows a boat destroyed by the fires sitting in the water. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A mark on Fleetwood's Restaurant and Bar on Front street, owned by Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood, indicates no people were located in the burnt out building on an initial, no-entry search. Photograph: Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

In an aerial view, cars destroyed by wildfire line on Front Street. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

A building's interior and burned palm trees are photographed Thursday. Photograph: Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Search and rescue soldiers in Lahaina walking by a burned down structure. Photograph: US National Guard/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Residents allowed access to Lahaina

County officials in a new update say that residents of West Maui with ID showing proof of residence can access Lahaina via Maalaea, which is east of the fires, starting at noon local time. Visitors with proof of hotel reservations can also enter.

Officials say there are measures in place to “secure the heavily impacted area”, including no unauthorized public access beyond barricaded sections and a 10 pm to 6 am curfew. West Maui remains without water and power and search efforts are continuing, the county said. One zone remains restricted with no access due to continuing hazardous conditions.

While there are reports that power and cell service is slowly coming back after the fires cut off communication for many stranded residents, there were still nearly 11,000 without power in Maui, according to PowerOutage.US, as of 10.15 am local time.

The lack of power has created additional challenges.

Kaanapali resident Albena Leon told NBC News that it was a near-total communication blackout on the west side of Maui, saying, “You on the mainland know more about what’s going on than we do. It’s all word-of-mouth, we’re in the dark, it’s like the old days.”

Leon told the station people were desperate for basic supplies, and that she had a truckload of items to deliver, but no gas to drive for distribution:

We need diapers, medical supplies, people have not had anything to eat. There have been lots of clothing donations, but we need toiletries — toothpaste, shampoo, Advil, insulin, eye drops … It’s hard, overwhelming. That’s why each of us are taking one thing we can do, and just doing it.”

How to help Hawaii wildfire victims

If you want to support relief efforts you can donate to the Hawai‘i Community Foundation’s Maui Strong Fund:

You can also donate to multiple verified organizations through this link, including Maui United Way, Aloha United Way, Maui Food Bank.

The Maui Mutual Aid Fund is helping people with physical disabilities, renters and underinsured or uninsured people, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. And here is GoFundMe’s page of verified fundraisers.

US national guard to support emergency response in Hawaii

The US military has sent 133 national guard members to Hawaii to support the emergency response efforts on the ground and in the air, the Washington Post reports.

Guard and Navy helicopters have launched search and rescue missions and dumped 100,000 gallons of water to stop the fires, according to the Pentagon.

California and Washington state have also sent teams to support in the efforts. “Californians know firsthand the devastating toll of catastrophic wildfires fueled by climate change, capable of wiping out entire communities and centuries of irreplaceable history and heritage,” governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Thursday. “Our state is sending resources to support our Pacific neighbors during their time of need.”

A search and rescue soldier working on recovery efforts in Lahaina on Thursday. Photograph: US National Guard/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Summary of the day so far

The latest developments and updates as of 8.30 am local time in Hawaii:

• Officials have confirmed 55 deaths in the fires, but have warned that the number of fatalities is expected to rise as searches continue.

• More than 1,000 buildings have been destroyed and officials say the town of Lahaina looks like a “war zone” hit by a bomb.

• Hawaii governor Josh Green announced Lahaina residents should be able to return to their homes today following evacuations.

• Firefighters were still working to contain fires in Lahaina, Pulehu/Kihei and Upcountry Maui, officials said in an early morning update.

• Nearly 15,000 tourists have left Maui, officials confirmed today as more sought flights off of the island.

• Historic landmarks, some hundreds of years old, have been destroyed.

Historic landmarks destroyed

Officials estimate that as many as 1,000 buildings have been destroyed in the fire, including numerous historic landmarks and sites with deep cultural significance. Some of the vital losses include:

Waiola church, which was destroyed by the fires, recently celebrated its 200th anniversary and had been standing since Lahaina was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii in the 1800s, NBC News reported. It has long been a center for community meetings and was the burial site for early members of the Hawaiian royal family, Kūhiō Lewis, CEO of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, told the station, calling it a “staple of Lahaina”.

The hall of historic Waiola Church in Lahaina and nearby Lahaina Hongwanji Mission are engulfed in flames along Wainee Street on Tuesday. Photograph: Matthew Thayer/AP

The Baldwin Home Museum was the oldest house on Maui, considered a historic landmark for Lahaina, and was destroyed by the fire, the Lahaina Conservation Foundation told the Washington Post. Theo Morrison, the group’s director, told the newspaper: “All that is left of the two-story Baldwin Home and its neighbor, the Master Reading Room, are the coral block and stone walls. No windows, stairs, decks, or roof.” The site was home to the offices of the foundation and contained significant artefacts.

The Wo Hing Temple Museum, a religious and social gathering place for Chinese immigrants, was also in the area of fire destruction, according to satellite imagery, CNN reported. The site was originally home to the Wo Hing Society Hall, a center for the Wo Hing Society, formed in 1909 by Chinese immigrants in Maui. The Lahaina Heritage Museum was also in a field of fire debris seen by satellite, the station reported.

A 150-year-old banyan tree appeared badly damaged, but was still standing.

The Pioneer Inn, built in 1901, was also destroyed this week, the Honolulu Star Advertiser reported. Hotel officials say all guests were safely evacuated.

Hundreds of dogs, cats and other pets have been separated from their families during the wildfire, according to the animal welfare group, the Maui Humane Society, the AP repots.

The organization is seeking donations and has set up a Maui fire pets help Facebook group for mutual aid. Some locals are posting desperate pleas and photos of their missing pets, while others have posted images of lost animals they’ve found. The group says it is expecting an inundation of lost pets and is in need of emergency foster homes, pet food and litter and cash support to fund medical care for injured animals. Some are in need of critical care after suffering smoke inhalation, the AP says.

Officials say that 14,900 visitors left Maui by air on Thursday.

The AP reports that airlines are adding additional flights for visitors trying to depart, and that the county of Maui has strongly discouraged nonessential travel to the island. People with planned trips to West Maui in the coming weeks should reschedule plans, the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority said.

Tourists stranded at Maui airport Photograph: Étienne Laurent/EPA

Lahaina residents should be able to return homes on Friday, says Hawaii governor

Hawaii governor Josh Green announced on Friday that Lahaina residents should be able to return to their homes today following evacuations from raging wildfires, local outlet KHON2 News reports.

During an interview with KHON2 News, Green confirmed that Lahaina residents will be able to return to their homes.

“We’re heartsick over the loss of life, but people will be able to get back into their homes today,” Green said, adding that Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. would be making a similar announcement later today.

“I want to caution everyone. Lahaina is a devastated zone. They will see destruction like they have not ever seen in their lives,” Green said, adding that residents should brace themselves and remain careful.

Green also noted that a curfew is expected to be announced on Friday.