Maui fires death toll rises to at least 53, hundreds forced to evacuate; Biden declares major disaster
The death toll from a fast-moving wildfire on Hawaii's Maui island rose Thursday, with at least 53 people now confirmed dead, officials said. The blaze, which nearly destroyed the historic town of Lahaina, was said to be 80% contained earlier in the day.
Officials had earlier warned the death toll could continue to go up, with multiple fires on the island still burning and teams spreading out to search charred areas.
Police urged people to stay away from Lahaina "due to biohazard and safety concerns" and said arrangements would be made to let residents back into the area at a later date.
Evacuations were continuing Thursday with officials providing buses to take people from the disaster area on the western part of the island to a shelter or Maui's Kahului Airport. Maui officials said 1,400 people stayed at the airport overnight Wednesday while waiting for flights off the island.
President Biden approved on Thursday a federal disaster declaration for Maui. The move makes federal funding available to people on the island affected by the fires.
"Our prayers are with the people of Hawaii, but not just our prayers — every asset we have will be available to them," Mr. Biden said during an event in Salt Lake City marking the first anniversary of a veterans benefits law. "They've seen their homes, their businesses destroyed, and some have lost loved ones, and it's not over yet."
The Coast Guard said Thursday it had rescued 17 people from the water and located 40 survivors ashore. The Coast Guard currently has no reports of missing persons in the water.
Thirty guardsmen are assisting Maui police with traffic control, and 16 roads are still closed on Maui, Jeff Hickman, public affairs director for the state's Department of Defense, said Thursday afternoon.
Two Army National Guard helicopters are on their second day of fire suppression after dropping over 100,000 gallons of water throughout 58 runs on Wednesday, Hickman said.
The Lahaina blaze was one of several that devastated entire communities in Hawaii, initially spread by winds from Hurricane Dora as it passed far to the south.
Terrifying images out of a Maui neighborhood showed home after home swallowed by fast-moving flames Tuesday night as residents scrambled to escape.
The wildfires took the island of Maui by surprise, leaving behind burned-out cars on once busy streets and smoking piles of rubble where historic buildings had stood.
Amid the chaos, Dustin Kaleiopu fled Lahaina with his grandfather. He told CBS News on Thursday that there wasn't any warning about the fire and they left with only what they were wearing.
"The smoke was starting to come through our windows. By the time we got in our car, our neighbor's yard was on fire. There were strangers in our yard with their water hoses trying to put fires out," Kaleiopu said.
He and a group of about a dozen family members are staying with a cousin in a safer part of the island, and he's seen in aerial footage that there's nothing for him to go back to.
"All of my neighborhood is completely destroyed, my grandparents' house completely destroyed, my mother's house, my brother's house," Kaleiopu said. "Everyone that I know, I've seen their houses just burned down to piles of ash. There's nothing recognizable in the rubble, and I wouldn't know what I was looking at if I were to make it back home, or at least to where home used to be."
William Bugle, 76, told CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti he was burned on his arm when the roof blew off his house and he was hit by red-hot shingles.
"It went from like nothing to, like, I felt this heat, this tremendous heat," Bugle said.
Flames forced people to dive into the water for safety.
Officials said earlier that 271 structures were damaged or destroyed and dozens of people injured.
On Wednesday, crews were continuing to battle blazes in several places on Maui. Authorities urged visitors to stay away.
The fires were the latest in a series of problems caused by extreme weather around the globe this summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of such events.
William Bugle, 76, told CBS News correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti he was burned on his arm when the roof blew off his house and he was hit by red-hot shingles.
"It went from like nothing to, like, I felt this heat, this tremendous heat," Bugle said.
Flames forced people to dive into the water for safety.
Officials said earlier that 271 structures were damaged or destroyed and dozens of people injured.
On Wednesday, crews were continuing to battle blazes in several places on Maui. Authorities urged visitors to stay away.
The fires were the latest in a series of problems caused by extreme weather around the globe this summer. Experts say climate change is increasing the likelihood of such events.
As winds eased somewhat on Maui, some flights resumed Wednesday, allowing pilots 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 harbor were scorched, and gray 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."
An emotional Lahaina resident, Kekoa Lansford, told CBS Honolulu affiliate KGMB-TV Front Street is "completely burned."
He said the decimation on Maui is a "nationwide issue at this point. ... We need help. A lot of help. We got to get people down here. We need funds allocated for fixing our home(s). We are out here working."
