Maui firefighters brought the vicious Lahaina wildfire to 80% containment three days into what may turn out to be the deadliest disaster in state history — a catastrophe that brought frustrations to the surface over whether there was sufficient notice to residents of Lahaina to evacuate.
Maui County officials Thursday raised the confirmed death count to 55, an increase of 19 from Wednesday, and Gov. Josh Green expects that number to keep climbing.
At a sometimes testy news conference at the Maui County building, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier asked residents for patience in understanding why they are prohibited from reentering Lahaina as authorities “respectfully” search for and remove more bodies.
“Understand this: Lahaina Town is hallowed sacred ground right now because our iwi are in that ground,” Pelletier said. “We have to get them out. We will get them out as fast as we can. But I need your patience while we do this.”
The county provided no other details but Green appeared on national television before the news conference and said that the death toll will go up “very significantly” as search-and-rescue crews reach areas and ruined structures that were previously inaccessible.
Green walked the length of Front Street and told CNN by satellite phone that he expects the death toll to “significantly exceed” the 61 deaths from the 1960 tsunami that struck the islands and had been the state’s deadliest natural disaster.
Asked about specifics on which parts of Lahaina are destroyed, Maui Mayor Richard Bissen Jr. said “all of it.”
Pressed by reporters for exact streets and locations, Pelletier returned to the podium saying, “When the mayor said it’s gone, it’s all gone. It’s gone.”
Pelletier acknowledged that the number of fatalities likely will increase.
“It is rising,” he said. “I do not know what the final answer is going to be. … The amount of loss is incredible.”
Witnesses and Lahaina residents have appeared in numerous media reports with conflicting accounts of whether they were told by authorities to evacuate ahead of the rapidly moving fire. Questioned about the reports and timelines, Bissen said that mandatory evacuations were ordered — and “certainly for Lahaina.”
Bissen did not respond to a question from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser about whether the island’s Civil Defense sirens had been considered as a way to alert residents and tourists.
The Lahaina fire broke out around 11 a.m. Tuesday, stoked by wind gusts up to 60 mph, said Maui Fire Chief Brad Ventura.
While reinforcements came from around the island, a new fire broke out in Kula around noon, leading to evacuations and requiring other crews to be redeployed followed by a third major fire that required “triage.”
They were joined by “many small fires in between,” Ventura said.
“It’s still very, very hazardous,” he said.
Ventura said that the Lahaina fire had spread so quickly that people “were basically self evacuating.”
Pelletier, Green and other government officials braced residents and tourists for the reality that life in West Maui will not return anytime soon to the way it was before the fire.
“Right now we have a scar on the face of Maui that will be here for a very long time,” Pelletier said. “We know that scars heal in time but they always remain.”
Green called the deaths and recovery from the Lahaina fire “the greatest emergency we’ve seen in decades.”
A special session of the state Legislature may be needed to help fund state recovery efforts for Maui, along with incoming federal assistance, he said.
To recover, he said, “it will take time” and cost “billions of dollars, without a doubt.”
“To give perspective, it is going to take many years to rebuild Lahaina,” Green said. “When you see the full extent of the destruction of Lahaina, it will shock you. It does appear like a bomb went off and all of those buildings virtually are going to have to be built into a new Lahaina.”
The area remains without power, water, cellphone and landline service. Some roads are impassible because of fallen trees and debris.
Getting 29 power poles restored around Lahaina after they were blown down will take Hawaiian Electric “a lot of time,” Green said. “We’re talking about more than just days. We’re talking about weeks or months, in some cases, to get energy fully restored.”
Green also said the estimates of buildings destroyed on Maui are “upwards of 1,700,” sharply higher than the initial estimate Wednesday of 271. He said that about 11,000 people in West Maui remain without power.
The governor described what he saw in Lahaina as “total devastation,” estimating that about 80% of the town was destroyed, with hundreds of families displaced.
Earlier in the day, President Joe Biden issued a “Major Disaster Declaration” for Hawaii that the White House said will deliver additional federal resources and support on top of the actions underway by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard and other federal agencies, the statement said.
Green’s office said the declaration makes federal funding available to affected individuals on Maui, including grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses, as well as other programs to help individuals and business owners recover.
On Thursday, the governor also issued a fourth emergency proclamation related to the wildfires that whipped through Maui and Hawaii island. The governor’s office said the latest proclamation will help “facilitate response, recovery, and rebuilding for West Maui” and “allow for provision of healthcare services by out-of-state doctors, nurses, and respiratory therapists, so they can practice on the Island of Maui during the emergency period.”
The Hawai‘i Tourism Authority said that 14,000 people were moved off Maui on Wednesday, with another 14,500 expected to be evacuated Thursday. An estimated 1,400 would-be airline passengers woke up Thursday on the floors of Maui’s Kahului Airport trying to get a flight out. Another 1,350 people spent the night in Maui’s emergency shelters.
The Honolulu Fire Department said it will deploy 40 personnel to Maui to aid ongoing operations, including firefighters, incident management team members and search-and-rescue specialists.
And Deanne Criswell, administrator for FEMA, plans to travel to Hawaii to meet with state and local officials regarding ongoing response and recovery efforts, the federal agency announced.
Four public school campuses in Lahaina will remain closed through Aug. 18: Lahainaluna High, Lahaina Intermediate, Princess Nahi‘ena‘ena Elementary and King Kamehameha III Elementary schools.
“While the Department is working to solidify next steps for what school operations will look like for West Maui, we are also making sure all students, staff and families are accounted for. The extended closures are also aimed at allowing students, families and staff to care for themselves and loved ones and start to reestablish their bearings during this stressful and devastating time,” the Department of Education said in a statement.
Officials said damage assessments are underway at the four campuses, but King Kamehameha III Elementary on Front Street was confirmed to have severe fire and structural damage.
Reopening plans for all other Maui public schools will be determined today.
In all, more than 1,400 teachers work on Maui at 30 public and charter schools.
“Schools in Upcountry, South and Central Maui will have phased reopening plans to first bring back staff, followed by students,” the DOE said in a statement. “This will give school teams time to assess damage and capacity to welcome students back safely.”
On Thursday, Mana Moriarty, director of the state Office of Consumer Protection, announced that a Maui price freeze remains in effect because of emergency proclamations signed Monday by then-Acting Gov. Sylvia Luke.
Moriarty urged people to report incidents of suspected price gouging until the price freeze lifts on Aug. 31, as scheduled.
The freeze requires goods and services to be priced at the same levels before the emergency proclamation went into effect Monday.
To report a suspected violation, email OCP@dcca.hawaii.gov or call the Consumer Resource Center at 808-587-4272.
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