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The death toll in the Maui wildfires rose Friday to 67, as some residents were allowed to return to West Maui after the disaster.
But a fire Friday in West Maui prompted the evacuation of residents of Kaanapali, which has a population of around 1,100, Maui County police said Friday evening.
Three wildfires have been burning on Maui. Containment of the Lahaina fire, which swept into the town of the same name and caused widespread damage, increased slightly to 85%, the County of Maui said.
Containment of the Pulehu/Kihei fire was 80%, and the Upcountry Maui fire is 50 percent contained.
Maui’s warning sirens were not activated as deadly wildfires approached the town of Lahaina, emergency officials said. Three other alert systems were implemented, according to Hawaii Emergency Services Administration.
Some survivors believe they were not sufficiently warned through emergency alerts as the crisis deepened, adding to the confusion in what has become one of Hawaii’s deadliest natural disasters.
Some residents were able to survey the damage, and what little has been left of their homes.
“It’s a war zone,” said Kimo Kirkman, who went back to get the remains of their two dogs and cat.
Others are still in the dark about whether their relatives and loved ones are alive or dead. There is no official number of missing known, and the death toll could go up as more remains are found in the wreckage of the town.
Gov. Josh Green and other officials on Saturday are expected to provide another update into the crisis, which he has said will most likely be the largest natural disaster in Hawaii’s state history (it became a state in 1959).
What to know about the wildfires
- Maui's warning sirens were not activated as deadly wildfires approached the town of Lahaina, emergency officials said.
- Officials have confirmed 67 deaths in the wildfires that tore through Maui, but Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen warned the death toll "could go up."
- Six fires are burning in Maui and the Big Island, but officials said the Lahaina fire is now 85% contained. Many of the town's historic landmarks are lost.
- Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said the fires are likely to be the largest natural disaster in the state’s history.
- NBC News' Miguel Almaguer, Dana Griffin and Steve Patterson are reporting from Maui.
Scientists take stock of the plants and animals that lost to the flames
As Hawaii continues its effort to contain wildfires across the Big Island and Maui, and a climbing death toll leaves residents shell-shocked, scientists across the United States have begun to take stock of the plants and animals that have been lost to the flames.
Though Hawaii makes up less than 1% of U.S. land, it contains 44% of the country’s endangered and threatened plant life. While some native plants can gradually recover from wildfires of this scale, others will likely be scorched beyond regrowth, experts said. No clear data is available yet on exactly what has been lost, but scientists fear the toll is significant.
Read the full story here.
Fire prompts evacuations in West Maui community of Kaanapali
Evacuations were ordered in the western Maui community of Kaanapali today after a fire, Maui County Police said.
Kaanapali is north of Lahaina, the town devastated by a wildfire this week, and according to U.S. census data it has a population of around 1,100.
Maui County police said there are no restrictions for people to leave the west side of Maui. Earlier police had restricted traffic after people went around barricades, the department said.
Firefighters on Maui have been fighting three wildfires, in addition to flare up fires, officials said.
"As of this posting, there is a fire in West Maui, residents in the Kaanapali are currently being evacuated," police said.
"At this time, there are no restrictions to exit the west side. Our priority is to ensure the safety of the community and first responders. We will allow entrance once it is safe to do so."
The devastation seen from the air above the Maui town of Lahaina is striking, with blocks of burned down buildings — a heartbreak even as help arrived in the form of aid arrived.
Even at 400 feet up above the town that once housed more than 12,000 people in West Maui, there was a smell of smoke.
NBC News correspondent Tom Llamas flew over Lahaina on Friday, three days after the fire, which was whipped by winds with gusts of 60 mph or more, swept into the community.
Road to Lahaina closes in both directions
The road into Lahaina, the West Maui town devastated by a wildfire, was closed in both directions this afternoon, Maui County police announced.
Some residents into the town with limited access had been allowed back earlier in the day.
Maui County police in a social media post did not say why the road was closed. The County of Maui has said that burning areas are toxic, and barricades remained up around Lahaina.
NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu reported, citing county officials, that people being allowed back had not been following rules put in place by authorities, and going into places in Lahaina where they were not allowed.
A deadly — and costly — disaster
The deadly Maui wildfire is already projected to be the second-costliest disaster in Hawaii history, behind only Hurricane Iniki in 1992, according to calculations by Karen Clark & Company, a prominent disaster and risk modeling company.
Three Maui fires partially contained, but the fight continues
The deadly Lahaina fire that swept into the West Maui town of the same name, causing widespread damage, is 85 percent contained, Maui County said today.
There are two other wildfires on the island. The Pulehu/Kihei fire is 80 percent contained, the county said in an update, and the Upcountry Maui fire is 50 percent contained.
“Firefighters continue battling flare-ups in all three fires,” the county said in a 3 p.m. (local time) update.
Postal carrier's route now filled with ruins — but the mail still gets delievered
KULA, Maui — Postal carrier Marra Gomes can point out the wreckage of one large home where multiple members of a family lived, or another house where the family of a relative’s boyfriend once lived.
Those homes, burned along with many others in Maui's wildfires, are ruins.
“The toughest part is seeing all the families not here that I used to wave at. Or the two little kids up the street ... run to me and grab their mail,” she said, wiping her eyes.
Gomes is delivering mail to those who remain. For many, they are holding mail at the post office.
People who remain ask Gomes if she’s OK, she said.
“We just got to keep going. Just trying to make everybody feel like, life can still go on,” Gomes said.
Maui wildfire one of deadliest in modern American history
The wildfire that tore through the West Maui town of Lahaina and the surrounding area, killing at least 67 people, is one of the deadliest wildfires in modern American history.
Only the Camp Fire, which killed 85 people when it erupted and destroyed the California mountain community of Paradise in 2018, appears to have killed more.
The Camp Fire is considered by state officials to be the deadliest wildfire in California history and has been called in state hazard preparedness materials the deadliest wildfire in the United States in 100 years.
In 1871, the Peshtigo Fire in Wisconsin killed an estimated 1,200 to 2,400 people and is considered the deadliest wildfire in American history, according to a history by a National Weather Service science officer in Wisconsin.