Maui fires live updates: At least 36 dead as thousands flee ‘unprecedented’ disaster

Aerials show extent of Maui wildfires How Maui’s fire death toll compares to California’s past deadly wildfires

Thirty-six people have died in the Maui County wildfires, officials said Thursday, as blazes continue to rage on the Hawaiian island.

In comparison to California’s history of destructive and deadly blazes, it would rank as #2 on their list of Top 20 deadliest fires. 

The 2018 Camp Fire killed 85, the 1993 Griffith Park blaze killed 29, and the Tunnel Fire of 1991 left 25 dead, according to Cal Fire records.

The fires on Maui also outpace the death toll of recent wildfires including the 2017 Tubbs Fire in Northern California that killed 22, the 2020 North Complex Fire that killed 16 and the LNU Complex Fire, also in 2020, that left six dead. 

Airline companies sending planes to help evacuate stranded passengers

United Airlines and American Airlines said Thursday they are sending planes to Maui to evacuate passengers whose travel plans were upended by wildfires blazing on the island.

“We’ve canceled today’s inbound flights to Kahului Airport so our planes can fly empty to Maui and be used as passenger flights back to the mainland,” United said in a statement.

The airline said it’s monitoring the situation “closely” and “emphasizing safety as always and checking on the welfare of our employees on Maui.”

American Airlines said it expects to operate all of Thursday’s scheduled flights to and from Kahului Airport.

The airline said it “added an additional flight and upgraded an aircraft today to ensure customers evacuating are able to do so.”

American Airlines customers whose travel plans were affected by the wildfires are able to rebook without fees, cancel or receive a refund. 

Despite weather warnings, fires were impossible to predict: Hawaii official

Warnings of high winds and the potential for extreme fire behavior were issued Tuesday, but knowing where the fires would spark was impossible to predict, Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency Communication Director, Adam Weintraub, said Thursday.

“You can’t tell exactly where a tree is going to go down. You can’t tell when a roof is going to come off and land on a power line. You can’t tell when somebody’s going to hit a rock with a lawn mower and spark a blaze,” he said on NBC’s “TODAY” show Thursday.

“We were seeing gusty winds that were up to 80 mph and when you get a flame in dry vegetation, in low humidity, in that kind of a wind environment, the flames can go anywhere,” he said.

Efforts to quell the flames and get people to safety continue.

“We are hoping for the best but we’re not sure what the outcome will be,” he said.

When will the winds subside? 3 active fires burning in Maui

Three fires remain active on Maui in Lahaina, Pulehu and Upcountry, the County of Maui said in a 10:30 p.m. local time (4:30 a.m. EST) update.

The Maui Fire Department reported “no significant changes” on the three fires, and there are no new evacuations. No containment estimates were available. 

The fire department will conduct an assessment at first light Thursday, officials said.

The county said firefighters have been facing “multiple flare-ups” and additional firefighters were requested from Honolulu. Overnight, 30 U.S. Army service members arrived on the island and will conduct search and recovery efforts Thursday morning.

‘Minutes to escape’: Maui resident recalls fleeing home and reuniting with family

Maui resident Dustin Kaleiopu said he and his family had just “minutes to escape” their home before fire consumed it. 

At first, Tuesday morning seemed normal; it was windy and the electricity went out, which isn’t uncommon, Kaleiopu told NBC’s “TODAY” Thursday.

“By 3:30 p.m., the smoke had started to get thicker … and it started to make its way closer to our home. We could hear the explosions happening around the block from the gas station and from businesses. By 4:30 p.m., our neighbor’s yard was on fire,” he said.

“We had minutes to escape because an hour later, we would find out that our home had burned completely to the ground,” he added. 

His father, who had no way of communicating with Kaleiopu, had returned to the home after work to search for his family, and found the house “completely burned to the ground.”

Kaleiopu’s brother waited on the side of a highway on his father’s route home and flagged him down and the family was ultimately reunited, he said.

Kaleiopu said that in a matter of just 36 hours his town is gone and his world as he knew it, altered. 

“Every single person that I work with, the people that I see at the bank, the grocery store, everyone I know is now homeless. In 36 hours our town has been burnt to ash. There’s nothing left,” he said.

Emergency shelters provide refuge from wildfires in Kihei, HawaiiPhoto: Stranded passengers at Kahului Airport in Maui

Passengers try to sleep below a “Welcome To Maui” billboard while waiting for delayed and canceled flights at the Kahului Airport on Wednesday.

Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images‘It’s like an apocalypse’: Lahaina resident describes Maui wildfires’ aftermath More than 2,000 people are seeking refuge in shelters

Some 2,100 people are staying in shelters in Maui overnight following a mass evacuation of residents and tourists, Maui County has confirmed.

Tourists were evacuated from the Sheraton Maui Resort in Ka’anapali on Wednesday, and evacuations would resume Thursday, according to the statement posted around 4:45 a.m. ET.

Service members from the U.S. Army arrived Wednesday night and were “conducting search and recovery efforts” early Wednesday, the statement said.

Lahaina resident overcome with grief after losing her home

Steff Baku-Kirkman covers her face after hearing reports her home and her pets were destroyed, in Lahaina on Wednesday.

Marco Garcia / ReutersWarning of high winds lifted as effects of Dora ease

A warning of high winds across Hawaii was lifted early Thursday, as the effects of Dora begin to ease.

A high pressure weather system will bring “moderate to locally breezy trade winds across the region,” but wind speeds will decrease to moderate throughout Thursday, the National Weather Service in Honolulu said in an update.

Winds of up to 85 mph had stopped helicopters dropping water on the raging fires on Maui until Wednesday, when some 150,000 gallons were used to battel the flames.

Smoke fills the air on Lahaina shoreline

Smoke billows as wildfires driven by high winds destroy a large part of the historic town of Lahaina on Wednesday

Dustin Johnson / via ReutersTourism chief: Maui is devastated, but the rest of Hawaii is open

While the intense fires still rage on Maui, Hawaiian authorities are keen to tell the world that it is business as usual for the rest of the islands.

“What happened in western Maui is devastating. It’s really, really sad and our prayers go out the families. But I also want people know who are traveling to Hawaii and who are already here, the rest of Hawaii is open,” Jimmy Tokioka, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, told a news conference Thursday.

More than 11,000 people have been evacuated from Maui so far and at least 36 people have been confirmed dead.

What ignited Maui’s wildfires and why did they spread so fast? 150,000 gallons of water and military helicopters battled blazes

The fight to suppress the wildfires blazing in Maui has used more than 150,000 gallons of water so far, Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, who is leading the military response, told a news conference Wednesday night.

Helicopters have been battling the flames, but their intervention Wednesday was delayed by high winds of up to 85 mph, which are too strong for helicopters to fly, he said.

At least 36 killed in Maui County fires, officials confirm

The death toll in Maui County has risen to 36, according to a statement from the county Thursday, which said the bodies had been discovered during firefighting efforts against the Lahaina fire.

It added that “no other details are available at this time.”

Acting Gov. Sylvia Luke: ‘The road to recovery will be long’11,000 people already evacuated from Maui, more to leave Friday

More than 11,000 people have been evacuated from Maui since the devastating wildfires caused untold destruction on the island this week.

Ed Sniffen, director of the Hawaii Department of Transport, told a news conference after 8 p.m. Wednesday local time (3 a.m. Thursday ET) that 11,400 people had been flown out so far, with 2,000 expected to leave Friday.

Some 600 people were staying at the airport overnight in anticipation of leaving on the first flight available, he said. More people would have left Maui, he said, but the main highway was closed due to the ferocity of the flames, though it has since reopened.

Fire, smoke and chaos — a closeup view of Maui’s inferno

MAUI — As the fast-moving wildfires ripped through the west of Maui, some people resorted to sprinting down to the Pacific Ocean and jumping in the water to escape the roaring flames.

“I was the last one off the dock,” Dustin Johnson said. “When the firestorm came through,” he added, it “took everything with it.”

The Coast Guard said it plucked around a dozen people out of the ocean, with the fires spreading right down to the water and destroying boats.

NBC News was able to reach this former tourist paradise turned fiery hellscape and see the destruction being wrought in real time. Deep orange flames and thick black smoke dominated this once-tropical idyll, where many people have lost everything.

At least six people have been killed in the rapidly spreading flames, with first responders unable to reach some areas and authorities are fearful they will find more bodies among the rubble of destroyed buildings.

“When you see, you know, some auntie on the ground, probably dead, and you can’t get in contact with your family, you just think the worst,” said Clint Hansen, another of those attempting to escape.

As hospitals filled up with wounded people, cell coverage and power was down in some areas, creating chaos amid the panic. Late Wednesday, authorities here said 4,000 people are trying to evacuate the island, as three major fires still rage.

Obama says he’s thinking of those affected, shares way to help

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama are thinking of all those affected by the wildfires in the state of Hawaii, and shared a way to help with his more than 131 million followers on social media.

Obama was born in Honolulu and spent his childhood there, although for a time he was in Indonesia.

“Michelle and I are thinking of everyone who has lost a loved one, or whose life has been turned upside down,” Obama wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Wildfire decimates Lahaina, once the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom

A historic seaside town that once was the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii has been largely reduced to ashes as wildfires continued to rip through the state Wednesday. 

Hawaiians say Lahaina’s disaster leaves them mourning the loss of a place dense with Native Hawaiian history and culture — and they’re bracing for what the tragedy will mean for their communities in the long term. 

“People are worried about their loved ones, their homes, their businesses, their jobs,” said David Aiona Chang, who is Native Hawaiian and a professor of history at the University of Minnesota. “So many of the disasters that hit Hawaii hit Native Hawaiians the hardest. It’s something that we are going to be dealing with for a long time.”

Read the full story here.

Satellite images capture devastation in Lahaina from wildfires

Satellite images captured the devastation in Maui on Wednesday after a wildfire tore through Lahaina, a popular vacation destination on the island’s west coast that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

In one image from the company Maxar Technologies, the historic area of Banyan Court — home to the island’s oldest living banyan tree, at 150 years old — appears to have mostly been reduced to ash.

Satellite images show southern Lahaina, Maui, on June 25, left, and Wednesday, right.Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies

Other images showed similar devastation in and around Lahaina Square, a shopping area, and a neighborhood on the southern end of the town.

Read the full story here.

Coast Guard rescues 14 who took shelter in ocean from Maui wildfires

With a wildfire fueled by winds from a passing hurricane destroying the Maui town of Lahaina, 14 people escaped the flames and smoke by heading to the ocean, officials said Wednesday.

The 14 people were rescued by the Coast Guard from a breakwall by Lahaina harbor Tuesday evening, after boats and aircraft were sent to help, the Coast Guard said in a statement Wednesday.

Smoke from wildfires rises at Lahaina harbor in Hawaii, on Tuesday.Brantin Stevens via AP

The reports to the Coast Guard “regarding multiple persons in the water needing rescue after taking shelter from fire and smoke in Lahaina” prompted the dispatch of a cutter, a 45-foot boat, and helicopters, the agency said.

Read the full story here.